A Summer With The Titans
by TheNumberFour
Summary: The Fentons are invited to another ghost hunting symposium, this time in Jump City. But what will happen when Danny discovers that the Teen Titans are hunting his other half, Danny Phantom? What are their enemies planning?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there, loyal readers! Today was a nice day, so I decided to post a NEW FIC! New fics give me something to do when I have writer's block on others. I have a bunch in the works at the same time. No worries, this one wasn't a result of a plot bunny. This was actually the first Danny Phantom fic I've ever written. AND it's a Teen Titans crossover to boot.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans OR Danny Phantom. Darn...**

* * *

Prologue:

There were no stars, only clouds. The moon was new and would not have appeared in the sky anyway. A deal was made that night. A ghostly figure sprang into the sky, focused upon his destination. He was not surprised the ghost boy wasn't out tonight. The boy had finished the patrol early, finding no ghosts wreaking their typical havoc upon the city. They had been paid not to attack that night. The mysterious ghost had to travel with stealth, so fighting the Danny Phantom was not the best option. The child would immediately recognize him as his nemesis and foil his plan, as he always did.

The ghost had no idea how a fourteen-year-old boy could possibly defeat so many superior ghosts. He hadn't been a ghost for 6 months and Daniel had already successfully fought Lunch Lady, Skulker, Spectra, and of course, himself, Vlad Plasmius. The child had even returned Pariah Dark to his eternal sleep. But none of this was important at the moment.

He reached a city on the coast. He flew, intangible and invisible, to his destination, avoiding capture by the heroes of this city. His destination was a cave on the opposite side of town. When he reached the spot, he touched the soft earth beneath him and entered the cave, illuminating the darkness with ectoplasmic energy.

The reason for Vlad's flight was an unusual one, considering the fact that he worked alone, formulating his devious plans in solitude. One day he came across information that piqued his interest which regarded a distant, obscure city with an unusually high crime rate. After hacking police databases and scanning the files of various prison escapees and repetitive lawbreakers, he found one report about a particularly elusive criminal. And he decided this man would make a powerful ally, with whom he could not lose. Both were cunning, strong, and had the same burning desire to conquer their enemies.

"Ah, you've arrived." A voice spoke from the blanket of darkness deeper in the cave.

"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you face-to-face. Shall we discuss a plan, Slade?" Vlad responded. Slade stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself.

Slade was also in a curious predicament. Like Plasmius, he spent most of his time alone, planning revenge on his enemies and expanding his influence. After Vlad contacted him, he realized that an opportunity as rare as this was difficult to pass up. Where else would he find a man so similar to himself? As the saying goes, two heads are better than one, and since he couldn't seem to hold down an apprentice for very long he decided he needed a collaborator; Vlad Plasmius was perfect for the job.

As the two evil men conferred in whispers, they both came to a realization: they may have been working together to achieve the same goal, but neither one could truly trust the other. Once Slade heard about Danny Phantom, the gears in his mind began to turn uncontrollably, and soon enough, his head was full of plans to make the ghost boy his new apprentice. Vlad, however, was more interested in Slade's enemies, the Teen Titans. He could use his human half to manipulate them into doing his dirty work, much like he did with the "Red Huntress", Valerie Grey.

The pair of villains pushed their thoughts of deception back into the depths of their minds and continued to plot throughout the night.

Chapter 1: DPOV

It was a peaceful and beautiful day in Amity Park.

I was walking down the street with Sam and Tucker, actually starting to believe that it would be the only day that the city wouldn't be in danger. And it was the last day of school! How great was that? There weren't any ghost attacks during breakfast or at school (usually that's how long it takes). Even my human enemies weren't bothering me. Dash didn't wail on me for a change, Lancer didn't assign any projects over the summer, and, of course, Valerie wasn't attacking me, because I wasn't Danny Phantom.

But I was just not lucky enough, was I?

All of a sudden, my ghost sense kicked in. As my bluish breath faded away, I looked frantically around for two things: the ghost I would be fighting and any bystanders or cameras that could catch sight of my transformation. No one was around to see, so the white rings skimmed over my body, enhancing my senses, increasing my strength, activating my powers, and changing my overall appearance.

"Ah, there you are, whelp!" the mechanical hunter ghost snarled. I pretended to be bored.

"I've beaten you hundreds of times, Skulker. What makes you think this will be any different?" I feigned a yawn. The ghost smirked.

"This time I have some help. Remember that girlfriend I told you about? We made up."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Skulker, how many times do I have to tell you? You can't date your pillow! What would your imaginary girlfriend be able to do to me?" I provoked him. I still couldn't imagine him with a girlfriend. She probably hasn't seen him out of his ectoskeleton. I turned intangible as he fired his rifle at me.

"Oh, come on! Is that _really_ the best you got?" I laughed. Evidently, I spoke too soon. I heard an electric guitar chord behind me. The ghostly sound waves from Ember's guitar sent me flying into a building.

"_EMBER?_ You two are dating? Yikes…" I bit my lip.

"You got that right, dipstick." The female ghost struck another chord that sent me toward ground. I remembered Sam and Tucker standing there helplessly.

"Guys! Go somewhere safe!" I yelled. They ran away from the scene in the direction of my house, probably to go get a Fenton Thermos and some weapons.

"So, I may hate you both, but might I just say… she's way out of your league." I punctuated my remark with an ectoplasm-infused punch to Skulker's robotic gut, hopefully scrambling the small, bright green ghost behind the metal mask.

"Don't I know it?" Ember exclaimed while striking more chords.

"That hurt even more than the last time." Skulker muttered. I dodged the waves by going invisible and flying behind her. I grabbed the guitar and the surprise from my sneak attack made her loosen her grip. Too easy. I smashed it against the concrete wall of a building and it instantly shattered into pieces. Ember let out a scream. Skulker's eyes lit up more dangerously than usual.

"Oh, snap." I started to fly in the opposite direction and he followed. Ember sat back, powerless, and let her… ew… boyfriend… do all the work. I raced through the city and suddenly had an idea. I was so much smaller than Skulker. I could fit through small spaces and he couldn't. I changed course and headed uptown to the modern art sculpture. Skulker was right on my tail. I flew through the hole in the blob-like sculpture that was just big enough to fit through. Skulker, whose bulky armor was hard to control, got stuck inside.

"So… I'm guessing you're not a fan of modern art anymore…" I joked. He didn't find it funny. Tucker and Sam arrived just in time. The statue was cracking and the ghost was even angrier than before.

"Danny!" Tucker shouted as he threw the Fenton Thermos to me. I uncapped it and pressed the green button so the blast of white light could suck Skulker in.

"Now we just have to find-"

"Danny, we caught Ember on the way here. She didn't put up much of a fight. She's gotten so mellow lately." Sam informed me.

"Yeah. Did you guys know she and Skulker are dating? First, there's the standard Johnny and Kitty, which is gross enough as it is. Then, I find out about the future when the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady… ew. Now, THIS?"

"Get a grip, man! It's no big deal!" Tucker slapped my back.

"Yeah, Danny, they're not doing this to spite you or anything. Love is love. They may be gross, but at least they're happy." Sam tried to comfort me.

"I'm detecting quite a bit of jealousy here." Tuck winked as he joked around. "If you really want a girlfriend so bad, all you have to do is look right – OW!" He was silenced by a rather hard punch on the arm from a slightly red-faced Sam. What was he about to say? Did he know something I didn't?

"I'm ok. It's just too big of a shock. Is any other shocking news gonna smack me in the face now?" I asked as I opened my front door.

"Danny! You'll never guess what happened! Our family has been invited to a ghost hunting convention in Jump City!" Mom squealed with delight. My mouth hung open. As I regained my composure, Mom started talking again.

"Sam and Tucker, you're free to come too! I've already called your parents." At least this trip won't be a total bore.

"That's great, Mrs. Fenton! How did you get my parents to agree?" Sam was amazed.

"Well, they figured it would be good for you to get more education on ghosts because of all the ghosts attacking Amity Park lately." Mom informed her. Sam shot me a knowing look that said, _as if I need to know more about ghosts. _After we were finished talking to my mom, we went upstairs to talk more in my room.

"I think it's a trap." I stated as soon as I shut the door. Tucker and Sam gave me confused looks.

"Don't your parents always get invited to conventions?" Tucker asked.

"They're the Fentons." I said flatly. "The last invitation we got was for a mother-son science symposium in Florida. By the Dalv Group." I started to scribble the word 'dalv' on a piece of paper and held it up to my mirror.

"NO WAY! Why didn't you tell us?" Sam exclaimed.

"It wasn't something I wanted to remember. My mom and I agreed to keep it a secret, but I guess there's no harm in telling you now." I told them the story, starting at the part when Vlad tricked us into bailing out of our plane over the Colorado Rockies. They gagged at the parts where he flirted with my mom and were especially grossed out when Mom pretended to flirt back. When I told them how I won against Vlad, they congratulated me.

"All of this without our help? I do believe he's growing up!" Sam joked.

"This isn't funny, guys! I know Vlad's up to something…" I said, deep in thought. Their laughter stopped and they nodded their heads in agreement.

"He _has_ been really quiet. No absurd new laws. No assassins or minions sent after you." Sam pointed out.

"But look on the bright side: you're going to Jump City. You have loads of backup. You don't only have us; you have the Teen Titans too." Tuck said, referencing the famous superheroes. I had never seen them, but I had heard so much about their exploits.

"Hmmm. You've got a point there Tuck! And if it turns out that Vlad isn't up to something, I can have a break. It's not my city to save."

"But will that stop you from saving it?" Sam asked, making all of us go silent. Sam and Tucker left to go pack (we were leaving the next day) and I pondered her question. What if they needed me there too? There was no doubt my hero complex would get me into trouble… Ugh, heroes never get vacations.

* * *

**So there you have it! It is practically my first fic ever, so it might not be EXTREMELY well written. I purposely didn't edit too much just to illustrate the difference between my writing THEN and my writing NOW.**

**Fun fact: I wrote this fic because I noticed a LOT of similarities between Danny and Robin. And also, I had the urge to try my hand at writing some witty banter. Hopefully mine isn't as bad as Jazz's!**

**And yes, the prologue and the first chapter are in the same chapter. The prologue was too short to be on its own...**

**~TheNumberFour**


	2. Chapter 2

**NEW CHAP! WOOHOO!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own. I will never own. DARN.**

* * *

It was a normal morning in Titans Tower. Robin and Raven were always awake first and were in the kitchen eating their breakfast. Robin's favorite music blared from his earbuds. Raven ignored the excess heavy metal sound from Robin's iPod and began to meditate peacefully as soon as she had finished her bland cereal. About 10 minutes later, Starfire woke up and brightened the room with good morning hugs, yanking Robin's earphones out and irritating Raven by interrupting the meditation session. BeastBoy was next to get up. He trudged to the kitchen, green hair sticking up in various different ways, mumbled some tired 'hellos' and opened the fridge for some soymilk and tofu bacon. Cyborg was usually up last, which was a good thing. He could eat the entire breakfast (including BB's gross tofu bacon) before any of the others could take a bite. As expected, he emptied the fridge of most of its contents and scarfed it all down. All of a sudden, an alarm sounded and the vibrant red lights flashed.

"Trouble!" Robin shouted. When they got to the scene, there was an huge mechanical monster terrorizing the town. It had already reduced several office buildings to rubble. Thankfully, the Titans found, there were no injuries or casualties.

"I AM TECHNUS! MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY (AND ALL THINGS ELECTRONIC AND BEEPING)!" He yelled in an irritating nasal voice. Eyeing Cyborg, the robotic colossus smiled deviously. He was at least thirty feet tall and looked like he had built himself just by raiding the local electronics store, with a plasma screen television for a face, and various stacked DVD, Blu-Ray, and even out-of-date VHS players as well as various game consoles, light fixtures, telephones and other miscellaneous objects making up the rest of his body and forming a tough metal shell.

"Be careful Cyborg." Robin warned.

"No worries, Rob. My tech can't be hacked by such an ancient model." Cyborg reassured him.

"YOU DARE CALL ME OUT OF DATE? I JUST UPGRADED!" While he was screaming this, Star noticed a silver haired man, unconscious, in the robot ghost's clutches.

"TITANS, GO!" Robin shouted over the chaos. Starfire flew under the mechanical arm and shot starbolts at it, successfully severing it. She caught the man, released by the severed robotic arm as he fell, and set him down on the ground, resolving to check on him later, when he awoke.

Star continued to fire starbolts and landed some solid punches on the robot, making large dents in its metal shell. Robin assaulted Technus with a barrage of birdarangs and explosive disks. Cyborg did his best to multitask, simultaneously attempting to hack Technus's mainframe and blast the robot with his sonic cannon. BeastBoy and Raven did their part by weakening Technus with physical attacks: Raven manipulated a streetlight to slam the technology ghost around, BB by transforming into a gorilla and pounding on the ghost's mechanical body.

Finally, Technus surrendered, though it seemed like he didn't put up much of a fight. The Titans were not able to capture him as his ghostly form disappeared from sight. Robin had noted how simple the battle seemed and was a tad perplexed. He had fought plenty of monsters about the same size as Technus, but none gave up that easily

The Titans regrouped and rushed to check on the man Star had saved, who was beginning to stir.

"Sir? Are you unharmed?" Star said gently. The man's eyes fluttered then opened completely.

"What happened? Where am I?" The man asked weakly, looking up at the heroes who had saved him.

"You were attacked by a robot thingy. Called itself Technus." BB said. "You're in Jump City."

The man's eyes widened. "Technus? Technus is no robot. He's a ghost! He serves- oh dear, I can't believe he's found me!" He began to hack and cough after his astonished exclamation.

"Who's found you?" Raven asked.

"Another ghost." the man winced in pain. "He may be a boy, but his power is great. He is out to destroy me!" The Titans looked at each other in alarm.

"I think you should come back to Titans Tower with us. There are some things we should discuss." Robin told him.

* * *

Back at the tower, Robin was questioning the victim of the ghost attack after his injuries had been treated.

"What is your name?" Robin asked the first standard question.

"Vladmir Masters." The man replied.

"_The_ Vlad Masters? Current Wisconsin Dairy King? The billionaire mayor of Amity Park?" Robin raised an eyebrow then nodded in recognition, surprised he hadn't realized the famous and influential man sooner.

"Yes, _that_ Vlad Masters." The silver-haired man chuckled.

"Why are you in Jump City?"

"I'm on the run from a ghost who is out for my head."

"Why is he after you?"

"Most likely because I know his secret." The man replied vaguely.

"And what would that be?" Robin pressed, beginning to become irritated by the man's unclear responses.

"He persuades villains to attack for him just to defeat them and get the glory from the innocent bystanders who watch in terror. I was one of his biggest supporters... until I took a shortcut home through an alley and saw him making a deal with one of his minions." Vlad explained further. "He's been after me ever since. He can't have the most influential man in town knowing his secret. Now he knows that Technus failed him… and will probably come here himself to find me…" he ran violently shaking fingers through his long, silver hair.

"Don't worry, Mr. Masters. We won't let him hurt you." Robin assured him. "You just need to tell me his name and I'll warn the Titans. For now you can stay with us. Titans Tower is the most secure place in the entire city." Vlad looked Robin in the eye. Robin could see a thick layer fear and anxiety, but deeper there was more. It seemed like the man's eyes also held malice, greed, and triumph over some unknown enemy; a look he'd seen so many times before- in Slade's eyes. This small revelation made Robin the slightest bit uneasy about trusting the man. Vlad uttered two words.

"Danny Phantom."

"Danny Phantom is attacking him?" Cy asked. "Who is he?"

"I did some research. Apparently he's the protector of Amity Park; the town superhero. He's about our age. He has ghostly powers. According to Mr. Masters, he was endangering the town and pretending to save it in order to receive glory and admiration from the citizens. Masters told me that Phantom and his goons are after him because Masters discovered his secret." Robin explained.

"That is terrible! How can he do that? He is only of the teen age, not unlike us." Starfire exclaimed. Robin shook his head while the other Titans pondered the question.

"Masters said that he's been persuading villains to attack Amity Park so he can save the day and get praised for it. Apparently he must have a lot of connections because a kid our age can't possibly have enough money to pay for it all. That part of the story seems just a bit fishy. Anyways, Vlad witnessed him making a deal with a ghost he hired; that's how he discovered Phantom's secret. I'll look into this." Robin repeated the information he had just gained, analyzing the story a bit more than the first time. The Titans looked convinced. After seeing all of the teen villains and what they were capable of, it seemed like a plausible story. Robin still wasn't sure, but he didn't let his team know that.

"Star, Raven, and BeastBoy, you do sky patrols. Cyborg, take the T-Car and watch from the streets. I'll do more research. He may be working for someone higher up. It might be Brother Blood or maybe even Slade." Robin scowled. "You all know how badly he wants an apprentice." The memory angered Robin to a point where he stalked out of the room fuming. In the hall on the way to his bedroom, he felt like he was being watched and turned around to see no one there.

Vlad phased his head back through the wall, frowning. He had his invisible eye on the previous conversation, satisfied with most of the results. But Slade was right. Robin was smarter than the rest. He was the only one Vlad sensed was unsure. And there was something about that Raven girl… She began to fidget when he first phased his head into the room, as if she were sensing his presence. He could only hope she wouldn't catch on. Then Vlad smiled to himself. He would simply have to kick his game up a notch.

* * *

**So there you have it folks! The Titans are introduced, and they meet Vlad! _AND_ Vlad's trying to frame Danny? *Le gasp* **

**I want to answer some reviews now, too. I think it's time I started doing that, because I am so grateful to all of my readers and reviewers! :)**

**seantriana: I know, right? But DEFINITELY not as bad as the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady... ew.**

**ClockworksApperentice: I took a look at your challenge and it seems like my story does fit! What an awesome coincidence considering I started it so long ago. Count me in! Although it does contain some elements of Slade wanting Danny as an apprentice. But it's pretty original, I promise. I'm not sure how I would do with the time limit though... My life... gets WAY too busy sometimes.**

**nico dragonrider: Haha, nice to find someone similar :) And I hate those kinds of typos. I make them all the time!  
**

**ChopSuzi: Thanks so much for the awesome review! I'm really glad you like the story.  
**

**jeannette9a: Thanks! You definitely will see more!**

**DizzlyPuzzled: Interesting. I never read any of those stories. I probably would have like to though. I'll check it out! :)**

**CSIalchemist: Hmm... she seems like someone who would figure that out. But hey, there's someone for everyone! Haha  
**

**emmagination: Thank you! And yeah, you'll see what happens! :) P.S. Next time, I want a cookie! :P  
**

**dreamwritergoddess: Thanks so much! I'm happy you like it! :)  
**

**(I feel like I overloaded on the smileys and exclamation points just a bit... Oh well.) **

**Thank you all SO MUCH for your reviews. Please continue with them, because I LOVE reviews!**

**TTFN**

**~TheNumberFour**


	3. Chapter 3

**New update! Notes at the end.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will. Depressing.**

* * *

Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and I carried our bags up to our suite (Mom and Dad got us our own. Theirs was down the hall). Being here was going to be exciting. The best part was that I wasn't going to have to fight ghosts! There were five Titans and only one of me. I knew that they could hold their own against any ghost that attacked. They had probably fought stronger monsters than my enemies.

I unlocked the door to find an awesome suite with a kitchen and two separate hallways I assumed led to the bedrooms; there was one for me and Tucker and another for Jazz and Sam. I dropped the bags and flopped down on the couch, exhausted. After an hour of doing nothing but watching television and having random conversations about nothing, we decided to go get something to eat. We were walking down the street, taking in the sights and looking for a restaurant, when Tucker finally spotted a pizza place.

As we entered the place I noticed a group of odd looking kids sitting at a table in the corner. _ They must be the Teen Titans, _I thought to myself. Tucker was immediately impressed by the large metal kid, whose body armor reminded me just a little bit of Skulker's. There was a little green kid biting down messily on a slice of weird looking pizza (Probably a mix of tofu and veggies. After being friends with Sam for so long, I was able to recognize the stuff from a mile away.) and a gothic girl in a hood who was staring at him in annoyance. Sam would get along with them. Vegetarian+Goth=Sam. Then there was a happy, red-haired girl with bright green eyes who started to laugh at the antics of the robotic boy and the green boy, who I could tell were best friends. Then the one that was the most recognizable was Robin. I used to read about Batman and Robin all the time but I never dreamed that I'd ever meet Robin in person. He was one of my superhero inspirations!

I pretended not to notice as we went to take a seat at the table next to theirs and a peppy blonde waitress bounced up to our table.

"Hello and welcome to Slice o' Heaven. My name is Katie and I'll be your server today. Would you like to start off with some drinks?" After we discussed it, Jazz relayed our orders to the waitress.

"Two waters, one Sprite, and a diet cola please!" Jazz said cheerfully.

"Coming right up!" Katie said and raced away to the kitchen. We started to study our menus.

"Meat, meat, meat, meat, meat… IS THERE ANYTHING FOR AN ULTRA-RECYCLO VEGETARIAN ON THIS MENU?" Sam exclaimed. Well, there had to have been, if the green Titan was chowing down on that odd looking pizza. I was about to mention it when Tucker interrupted.

"Are you nuts? It's a true carnivore's paradise!" Tucker said dreamily. "But my PDA won't get wifi! It can get a signal anywhere! At home, at Danny's, at school, in the ghost zone," he said that part lower, "but not in a pizza joint? That's just plain wrong."

"Hey, we couldn't help but overhear you guys talking. You're new around here, right? I think we can help you." said Robin. "We're the Teen Titans. This is Raven," he gestured to the girl in the hood, "Cyborg," he pointed to the robotic kid, "Starfire," the redheaded, orange-skinned girl with bright, nearly glowing green eyes giggled, "and BeastBoy," the green boy smiled and waved, "I'm Robin. Nice to meet you all."

"Hey, I'm Danny. These are my friends, Tucker and Sam, and my sister, Jazz. Thanks for helping us out." I said with a smile and indicated each of my friends in turn.

"No problem. Here… Tucker, right? If you sync your PDA with my tech, I can upgrade you. No more connection problems. And dude, you have excellent taste in food. Meat all the way!" They fist bumped.

"And I just order the tofu alternative to everything. They have it; it's just printed way too small on the menu." BeastBoy addressed Sam and pointed to the menu.

"Thank you so much! You're a life-saver!" Sam was relieved. Then she started a conversation with Raven. "Know any good bookstores?" They started to discuss their favorite gothic authors. We ordered our pizza and Jazz and Starfire started talking about some far-away planet. Apparently that's where Starfire came from. I was about to join that conversation because of my astronaut dream, but Robin started talking to me.

"So, how are you liking the city so far?" he asked.

"It's nice. Looks like you guys do a good job. It feels safe here." I responded.

"We always try our best," he replied modestly, "It's actually been pretty quiet lately except for a couple new monsters. There was this annoying ghost who kept screaming his name and his plans into the sky." Robin chuckled.

"Technus?" I exclaimed without thinking. Just the mention of an enemy from home made me feel uneasy. Why would Technus attack Jump City?

"You know him?" Robin inquired as our pizza was being served. I took a slice.

"Err- yeah. My parents are professional ghost hunters. They were actually invited here for a ghost convention or something. I hunt a little on the side too." I replied in between bites, not necessarily lying.

"That's really interesting. Where are you from?" he questioned me.

"Amity Park. Probably more haunted than any abandoned ghost town on the map." But then BeastBoy interrupted our conversation.

"Isn't that the town where that guy we saved came from?" At this point everyone at the table was listening. We looked at him quizzically.

"We saved a man from Technus a few days ago. He taught us a bit more about ghosts and he's now at Titans Tower, recovering. We're protecting him from another ghost he says is trying to kill him. His name is Vlad Masters." Sam's eyes widened and Tucker spit out his pizza. Jazz snapped the enormous Guidebook to Jump City she had just started reading shut. My mood instantly darkened. I should have seen this coming. How could I have been so stupid? Of course! Why else would my parents be invited to a ghost hunting convention? All other ghost hunters and groups hated them. I couldn't stay here anymore… I had to go back to the room and think things over. I thought up some excuse off the top of my head. I pretended to frantically check my pockets.

"I'm sorry, but I just remembered that I left my cell phone at the hotel room. Mom's probably freaking out trying to call me. It was nice meeting you, but I have to go. Maybe we can meet here again tomorrow. Jazz, Tucker, Sam, I'll see you back at the room. Excuse me." I stormed out of the pizza place. I crouched in an alley, went ghost, and flew to the hotel invisibly. Back in the room, I resolved that I wouldn't use my powers again for the duration of the trip. It's probably what Vlad wants me to do. When I slid open the glass door and walked onto the balcony overlooking the city, I heard the door unlock behind me and saw Sam enter the room out of the corner of my eye.

"Jazz and Tucker are back there getting more information about the Vlad situation. Are you okay?" she informed me, ending with the question with the obvious answer.

"Peachy." I snapped.

"Jeez, somebody needs a cheering up." She sat down beside me. "Tell me what's up. I know Vlad's schemes… duh. Just tell me what's on your mind."

"I fell for it. Again. I can't stand his games! He messes with my mind and my friends and my family, and now he's hurting other people. The Titans have nothing to do with my fight with Vlad! We're all just juvenile pawns in his stupid chess game of life."

"Wow, good metaphor. Mind if I use that?" I glared at her. "Ok, sorry. You just have to do everything he wouldn't think you'd do. You shouldn't use your powers. And if you're not using your powers, we should hang around the Titans more. Just in case he's sending goons after us. Use them as bodyguards." Sam suggested. I pondered the idea.

"I already had the idea of not using my powers. But, you're right. The Titans could be our best chance of protection. We're just not going to the tower. I heard Vlad's there. _That_ would be an awkward situation." I laughed a little and looked at her. There was a small breeze that blew her hair slightly to the side and her violet eyes practically glowed in the moonlight. I leaned in and hugged her. Sam's hugs always made me feel so much better.

"Thanks, Sam." I murmured just before the door to the room slammed open and we jumped apart. Way to kill a mood, Tuck.

"You will never guess what we learned!" Jazz exclaimed and started to tell the story.

*FLASHBACK*

After Danny stormed out, Sam stood up.

"I better go with him. I'll see all of you around sometime. Nice getting to know you." She smiled slightly and rushed after Danny.

"So what was his problem?" Raven asked.

"Vlad's an… err… old friend… of our father. Though I wouldn't say my father is _his_ friend. He says awful things about Dad behind his back and Danny hates him for that among other things that I really can't mention. Plus, he's really creepy." Jazz explained in a hushed tone.

"Usually Robin's the one that gets all angst-y about a creepy old enemy." BeastBoy chuckled a little, apparently trying to lighten the mood. His joke didn't help much. Robin just growled and looked down.

"So what did Vlad tell you?" Tucker asked after the brief silence.

"He told us that a ghost named Danny Phantom is chasing him." Robin said. Tuck and Jazz gasped and glanced at each other.

"Yeah, I know. That was my reaction. He said that Phantom was sending out ghosts to attack the city so he could save them and be praised for his heroics. Vlad was walking home one night, took a shortcut through an alley and accidentally saw him making a deal with one of his ghosts. Now he's being hunted because he knows the secret." Robin said, his voice evidently displaying disappointment.

"Wow… I can't believe it. Danny Phantom would never do that!" Tucker argued.

"The story itself seems fishy. What famous billionaires do you know take a walk home? Don't all of them use limos? And wouldn't he get mugged if he walked randomly into some dark alley? Amity Park's a nice town and all, but there are still criminals who would do that." Jazz analyzed Vlad's tale.

"Hmm… I'm surprised I never thought of that…" Robin mused.

"I think we have to go now anyways. Danny probably needs us." Jazz said, standing up. "It was really nice to meet you! And if you need any more help with the Danny Phantom situation, you can call us!" Jazz said, scribbling all four kids' cell numbers on a napkin before walking to the door.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Sam and I were shocked by Vlad's ridiculous story.

"That evil _RAT!_ I am definitely not going to use my powers. I know what he's up to! A fight between Danny Phantom and the Teen Titans… He wants us all destroyed! Or he's testing me. You know how he has that whole I-want-the-perfect-half-ghost-son thing going on. " I fumed. Sam looked like she was contemplating something while Tucker and Jazz were watching Danny's ranting reaction.

"You know what I don't understand? Why he wants the Titans destroyed too. Amity Park is far enough away from Jump City for Vlad to cause mayhem without attracting the Titans. Only their enemies would want them destroyed." Sam explained. She was right, it did seem a little weird for Vlad to be going this far out of his way just to destroy me. "Do you know what this means?" She continued with her question.

Jazz, Tucker, and I thought about her comments and put the pieces together. Jazz finally stated the conclusion we had all come to.

"Vlad isn't the only one we're fighting."

* * *

**So there you have it. It's not really much of a cliffhanger. You all KNOW who they're fighting. Just seemed like a good place to end this chapter.**

**I know. The way they all met is seriously cheesy. SERIOUSLY. But it seemed like the best way to outline all of their similarities. Oh well, I hope you guys were fine with it!**

**And WOW! 25 reviews in two chapters! So AWESOME! I love you guys! Keep on reviewing, PLEASE. :D **

**Commence replies to Chapter Two reviews... NOW!**

**Pichicha123: Glad you like the story. Thanks for reviewing!  
**

**CSIalchemist: True that. Raven and Robin are definitely the most perceptive. You'll see what happens! And thanks!  
**

**DizzlyPuzzled: Thank you! Glad you like it. And I hope to see that story of yours too. :)  
**

**ClockworksApperentice: Thank you so much! I will keep it up! :D  
**

**jeannette9a: I really liked your blow-by-blow review. Heehee! I'm really happy you like the story, and I'm still thinking about how to do the big reveal... I'm so indecisive! :/  
**

**book phan44: Yup, Danny's elusive like that. Phasing through things FTW!  
**

**forever LuNa: Yeah, I know right? And he came to this city thinking he'd have backup...  
**

**lunalovegood0628: Thanks! And I had to admit, I was a little confused by your question. But it sounded familiar. (I had to look it up. Oops...) The answer is: They both produce a few notes, all very flat, and are almost never turned the wrong way front! Oh, Lewis Carroll...  
**

**Kirbysamful: Thank you! He definitely will be. Thanks for the review!  
**

**Invisiblegirl16: Vlad. He just isn't a good guy... Thank you for reviewing! :)  
**

**ChopSuzi: Once again. Vlad... Just not a good fellow. And it _won't_ be very pretty. But it'll make a good story (I hope!)  
**

**seantriana: Haha! Totally the picture of geeks. Thanks so much for the review!  
**

**MizoreSnowstorm: Thanks for the review! I liked the argument with your character. DRAMA! Lol :)  
**

**TiFu: The Titans are definitely trusting to a fault. And, in Danny Phantom, it's before Phantom Planet. In Teen Titans, I'm not exactly sure. I just know that the whole "The End" Saga with Slade going after Raven never happened and Slade never died in Aftershock. Good question. And thank you for reviewing!  
**

**Major Simi: Two reviews in a row? Super mega special awesome points! Thank you for the review!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**SUP? NEW CHAP! That's what's up! :)**

**Disclaimer: *Sniff* Do I really have to do this? *sigh* Okay, I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. Ugh.**

* * *

Chapter 4:

Back at the tower, Robin was doing more research on Vlad, the Fentons, and Danny Phantom while the Titans were on patrol. He was putting his heart into this case. Robin was completely sure a teenage boy wasn't capable of evil without another force controlling him. It happened to him with Slade.

First he came to the Fentons' web page. They were professional ghost hunters with a functional portal. In the picture on the main page there was a picture of Danny and Jazz with a man and a woman both dressed in hazmat suits. The parents were clearly excited while the two children were evidently not enthused. They documented their experiments and inventions and had a specific section about the ghost boy, talking about "tearing him apart molecule by molecule".

Then he moved on to Danny Phantom. There were several pages for him with an abundance of pictures.

He had pure white hair, neon green eyes, and a black hazmat suit with a white collar, white gloves, white boots, and a white DP insignia on his chest. This definitely made him easier to find. _Did the hazmat suit relate him to the Fentons in some way?_ He asked himself mentally. Where else would he find a suit like that so easily.

He found another picture of the ghost holding a thermos that shot a bright light. Robin froze. He saw that in the Fentons' invention inventory. It was used for capturing ghosts. _How did he get the Fenton Thermos? _Robin wondered silently again.

Another picture showed him fighting an sinister-looking, older ghost with a black, pointed hairstyle, a white suit and cape with red lining, blood-red eyes and fangs. This was labeled "Danny Phantom vs. the Wisconsin Ghost". For some reason this picture stood out from all the rest. The ghost looked like he was incredibly powerful; definitely more powerful than Phantom. _Is this the one who's pulling the strings?_

He started jotting down all of his questions on a notepad. Next he had to research Vlad, which was slightly more awkward knowing he was in the tower and could walk in on him any minute, but he had to do what he had to do.

He came to a fanpage for the billionaire, wondering why some random person would even make a fanpage for the current Wisconsin Dairy King.

Robin learned that he was the owner of numerous companies, the most prominent of which were Dalv and VladCo., and that his mansion had been destroyed twice. The first explosion occurred for unknown reasons; the police and fire department could not discern the source of the explosion. Then, it was reduced to rubble by the Guys in White after an incriminating phone call from a source unnamed in the article. Oddly enough, this happened a short time before the mayoral election. Also a scarring piece of new footage Robin found from before the election featured Vlad in a hotel room, where the walls were made invisible, definitely the work of a ghost. The image Robin received after Vlad's towel flew off would forever be imprinted in his brain. He shook his head quickly and moved on to information about Vlad's election in the mayoral race.

He had entered at the last possible second as a write in candidate and won by a landslide. The newspaper article said that he had thanked Danny Fenton for inspiring him to run in the mayoral race. _Jazz seemed like she was telling the truth about Danny's dislike for Vlad. From the pictures, Danny looks positively baffled and angered by Vlad's speech. Was Vlad being sincere or playing with Danny's mind?_ Robin thought and kept reading the page. Then, right after he won, he put anti-ghost laws into action. _Why would someone who once supported Danny Phantom make laws against him? _These facts just didn't add up.

The Boy Wonder searched for more and found a lengthy newspaper article slamming Vlad Masters at the beginning of his term as mayor. During a protest held by the students of Casper High School, Masters had fired a laser at a child. Robin was eager to find the name of this child. Upon further inspection of the news article, he discovered, much to his surprise, that the student was Danny Fenton. Beneath his mask, his eyes widened. No wonder Danny hated Vlad so much. And soon after the incident, Vlad lifted all legislature permitting the limitation of students' rights.

As he continued his research, he realized that he had learned next to nothing about Vlad's past. _Was he hiding something? _

Robin was jolted from his thoughts when the door slammed open.

"Robin!" Starfire's voice sounded urgent. He rushed to her side.

"What's wrong?"

"I returned from the patrol and intended to make sure Mr. Masters was still alright, but he has gone missing!"

Meanwhile…

I had just gone to sleep when I heard muffled noises. Looking to my right, I realized the bed next to me was empty. Tucker may eat a lot, but he NEVER gets up for a midnight snack. He sleeps like a log. I instinctively went ghost and rushed out of bed into the girls' room to see Vlad Plasmius injecting them with something before they could even react. I debated whether or not I should be discreet and follow him silently or if I should show myself. Let's see, what would he least expect me to do? Of course, I stayed quiet and invisible, floating in midair, awaiting his next move.

"I know you're there, Daniel." I tensed, hoping he was just saying that to make sure I wasn't actually there (at least that's how my logic puts it). When I didn't respond, he stuck his gloved hand out, nearly grabbing me before I went intangible.

"Daniel, enough with the games. Come out and have an adult conversation." I quickly floated back to my room, slid under the thick blankets and changed back, making sure no light got out. I pretended I was asleep. The covers were rudely jerked off of the bed. I was grabbed by the shirt, dragged out of bed, and dangled in the air, staring into Vlad's face. I pretended to blink the sleep out of my eyes.

"Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to spy?" he snapped.

"You wouldn't know what my mother tells me. You're not my father. Didn't _your_ mother tell you it isn't nice to wake people up in this manner?" I retorted, knowing I struck a nerve. He retaliated by shocking me with a two-pronged object that reminded me of his stupid Plasmius Maximus. I screamed while he smirked and dropped me. I immediately went ghost and gasped for breath as soon as the transformation was complete.

"It's a little spin on the Plasmius Maximus. It keeps you in your ghost form for twelve hours." I stopped breathing.

"Ahh… I see you've figured out my plan. Well, I'm leaving now. Follow me or your friends die." He was trying to coax me out so the Titans could crush me. I growled and shakily stood up. Vlad was already out the window. I stood on the sill, said a prayer, and jumped. He was flying faster than ever, even with the collective weight of Jazz, Tucker, and Sam in the net slung over his back. Despite this, I quickly caught up to him.

"You gotta do better than that!" I lunged for him but he dodged.

"Slow down and think, boy! Did you forget that the lives of your friends hang in the balance?" he was right. They did. Literally. He could drop them at any given moment and I wasn't sure if I could save them and fight him all at once. I slowed down behind him, forming a plan. I quickly duplicated myself. My duplicate caught up to him, starting some witty banter and causing a distraction. I snuck up on him and tried to snatch the net out of his hand, but his grip was too firm.

"Do you really think I am _that _stupid, boy? Do you not realize I could waste them right here and now?"

"Just let them go, Plasmius! Put them back in their beds in the hotel. Stop bringing people into the situation that don't belong! This is between you and me." I yelled at him.

"I may be able to make an exception…" Vlad mused as he faced me. I didn't like where this was going.

"I'll tell you what. I will let your friends go _and_ stop advancing on your mother _and _stop trying to kill your father if you join me." he smirked. He was telling a blatant lie. He would never give up his plans just to have me as his ghostly minion.

"Never!"

"Have fun fighting the Titans, then. Taa!" he said as he disappeared into a black mist, taking my friends with him. Oh, no. The Titans were probably on their way, looking for Vlad.

"Titans! Go!" Robin shouted. Or they were already here. I spun around, facing them. This was actually the first time I fought other kids with superpowers (besides Dani, but hers weren't natural. They were created by Vlad. And they were the same as my own.). Once again, Vlad won this minor battle. I had no superpowered friends while the league of Teen Titans stretched all around the world. How could they have missed me? I shook the thought out of my head as they attacked.

Starfire started to shoot green bolts out of her hands and I retaliated with green ectoplasmic blasts of my own, knocking her backwards. Cyborg blasted my with a laser cannon that his hand turned into, knocking me sideways. Raven chanted "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" and a light pole flew at me. I created an ecto-shield to protect myself from it and the projectiles Robin flung my way. A giant green tyrannosaurus bit down on my energy bubble, putting too much stress on me. I let go of the shield and went intangible, flying out of BeastBoy's mouth. It was all too much. I took in a deep breath and wailed. My ghostly wail knocked Star and Raven into a building, caused BeastBoy to turn human again and fly backward into a car. Cyborg and Robin were clinging to the side of the roof they had been standing on by the time I ended my attack. My body wanted to go human, but it couldn't because of Vlad's stupid device. The weird part was that I regained my energy faster. Maybe Vlad did me a favor…

I flew away as quickly as I could and tried to figure out where Vlad had gone.

"Stop!" I heard behind me. Robin. He was determined. It was one of the reasons why he inspired me. He lived in the shadow of Batman for so long, but still managed to hold it all together. But this was not the time to idolize the kid who was trying to detain me. I dodged his Birdarangs and every other weapon he tossed at me. I got to the edge of town and he was still hot on my trail. I hid behind some bushes on the edge of a clearing and tried to phase back, but I couldn't. Darn it Vlad!

Robin hadn't arrived yet, but Vlad stepped into the clearing. I rushed at him.

"Where are they?" I shouted as I grabbed him by the collar. In a split second, he transformed back into a human and smirked as a hand grabbed my shoulder. I looked up to see a tall masked man looking down at me. That was when Robin burst into the clearing. He took one look at the scene and an expression of shock was plastered on his face.

"SLADE!" He yelled and attacked the man behind me. Vlad duplicated himself into his human and ghost halves to keep up the charade. I started to fight the ghost half.

"So this was your little plan, huh? Get him to think I'm working for this Slade guy? It's working out well! He went for Slade and not me. From what I see, we're not destroying one another like you wanted us to." I smirked as I clashed with Vlad.

"Robin hates Slade, who uses young heroes as his apprentices. Robin was once, even though it was against his will." He grunted. "As long as you're pursuing Vlad Masters and thinks Slade is directing you, Robin won't trust you. And if the Teen Titans don't trust you, neither will the world. You're better off joining me, son." I froze and my rage got the best of me.

"I'm. _NOT_. YOUR. SON!" I started to wail. Robin knew to cover his ears as he got down on the ground. Slade and Vlad were knocked off of their feet. I staggered after the wailing stopped. I regained my strength and lifted off the ground. "Now I'm telling all of you right now. Boy Wonder, just know I'm not who he makes you think I am." I gestured to the human Vlad duplicate and continued. "And Vlad Plasmius and you, one-eye mask guy, or Slade, or whoever you are: LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shot off into the sky, leaving the scene behind.

* * *

**And there you have it! Just to clarify if anyone was confused (you never know): DANNY IS NOT ACTUALLY SLADE'S APPRENTICE. Slade and Vlad want Robin to believe he _is_ to crush any potential trust Robin has for Phantom.**

**And now some shoutouts to those who reviewed! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You guys rock. I'm so glad you all like the story so much. (I'm trying new methods to respond to reviews. It's so difficult to respond to every one of you, even though I'd _like _to, because I keep getting more reviews every chapter! I'll just answer a few, though.)**

**dreamwritergoddess  
**

**Pichicha123  
**

**forever LuNa  
**

**jeannette9a  
**

**15dragondream  
**

**seantriana  
**

**CSIalchemist  
**

**ChopSuzi  
**

**TiFu  
**

**CrazyCoffeeKat  
**

**newboy  
**

**Major Simi  
**

**book phan44  
**

**lunalovegood0628****  
**

**Darkkami  
**

**AnnimeDolphin  
**

**Responses/Answers**

**Pichicha123: I'm planning on making the Titans really oblivious. They may get suspicious of little things that happen around Danny and Team Phantom, but you'll find out how Danny's going to deal with it.**

**forever LuNa: That's an interesting suggestion, and I definitely agree; if the Titans heard that conversation, it would definitely be interesting! But it wouldn't work here for two reasons: 1) Robin isn't really that suspicious of Team Phantom yet, so I don't think he'd put a tracker or bug on Danny or one of his friends. 2) I'm planning on dragging out Danny keeping his identity a secret. I really liked the idea, though :) But Vlad _may_ become Public Enemy Number 1 by then end. I actually haven't written the end yet, so there are dozens of possibilities!  
**

**jeannette9a: WITTY! I love puns! That was a really good point. Haha!**

**seantriana: It's an interesting question you pose. What _would_ I do if I dined with one of them? I'd probably persuade them to let me be a superhero too and ask for some lessons.  
**

**lunalovegood0628: Actually, another answer (the one your sister probably had) was that Poe wrote on both. And WHOA! I completely did not mean that. I wanted like a cheerleader type (blond and peppy), and a peppy name to go with it. I feel like Katie is a peppy name! So I guess you're in my story now? Cool. :)  
**

**Till next time!**

**~TheNumberFour**


	5. Chapter 5

**New chapter! Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 5:

Phantom left in a huff. Robin thought he seemed sincere, like he was roped into a mess he couldn't clean up alone. And he seemed alone now. But Robin couldn't focus on that now. He had two villains and a victim to deal with. Robin lunged at Slade, fist extended. Slade quickly grabbed his wrist and flung him at a tree.

"Now is not the time I fight you. Until next time, Robin." Slade vanished in a cloud of smoke. Robin was pushed to the center of the clearing by some unseen force. He let out a grunt and stood up, facing the vampire-like ghost.

"Who are you? Why are you working with Slade?" Robin asked warily.

"Didn't you hear Daniel? I'm Vlad Plasmius. And I'm afraid I can't tell you my motives." He replied in a calm tone while glaring at the teenage superhero.

Robin had him in a headlock before he could blink.

"Oh, I see. This is one of those 'easy way/hard way' things. How fun. It's refreshing to deal with a _different_ hormonal teenager today." Plasmius said sarcastically while he took hold of Robin's arm and twisted it, throwing Robin on the ground.

"Hm… funny. From what Slade told me about you, he made you seem like a challenge." The ghost smirked.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Robin growled unleashing a roundhouse kick to Plasmius's left temple and scratched his right eye before he could go intangible. Plasmius roared in pain and fired energy blasts that Robin deflected with his bo staff. He retaliated by throwing the Birdarangs, but Plasmius repelled them with a glowing pink energy shield. Then he duplicated himself into three and descended upon the boy.

Robin kicked and punched his way out of the wall of three ghosts. The two extras faded into the original, who straightened up as if he had heard an unexpected noise and said, glancing at his wrist like he was checking the time. "Well done, boy. You've worn me out this time. But mark my words. I'll be back." There was a pink swirl of light and mist and the ghost disappeared into thin air. He didn't see the human Vlad melt back into the ghost Vlad, who phased human once again.

"Oh, Robin, I couldn't possibly thank you enough!" Vlad limped over to the boy. He gazed weakly at his "savior" with a grateful smile on his face. Robin noticed a faint scratch mark on his right eye and a bruise on his temple that was slowly turning purple. Just where Robin had wounded the ghost. What a peculiar coincidence.

"Come on. We should get back to the tower. We can heal you." Robin assured him.

Vlad was resting and Robin explained everything to the Titans.

"I followed him after the attack. When I found him, he was in a clearing nearly strangling Mr. Masters. Slade was behind him. Looked like he was praising him, telling him to deliver the final blow." His voice sounded strained. "The thing is: Phantom looked like he had no clue who Slade was! Then another ghost came in, Vlad Plasmius."

"Funny how Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom, Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius all arrive in town and the same time…" Cyborg pointed out. Robin cocked his head to one side.

"Yeah… I'll look into it…" Robin said distantly, analyzing the facts. _Danny Phantom hates Vlad Plasmius. Danny Fenton hates Vlad Masters._ He resolved to pay Danny and his friends another visit.

He called Danny's number.

"Hello?" Danny answered groggily. How can he be so tired at 1 in the afternoon?

"Hey Danny, it's Robin. I wanted to know if you had any information about some ghosts that the Titans can use in this investigation."

"Sure. I have some things to discuss with you too. Room 444 at the Marriott." He replied, sounding a little bit worried.

"I'm on my way." Robin hopped on his motorcycle and sped off to meet the Fenton boy. When he arrived at the hotel, no one dared to question him. He walked straight through the lobby and up the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. After he knocked on the door, he heard the shuffle of feet on the other side. There was a click and then the door opened, revealing a blue-eyed boy standing on the other side.

DPOV

"I have to talk to you first. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz have been kidnapped." I confessed. His eyes widened. "I've been out… looking for them all night long, but I have no idea where they are."

"Do you know who took them?"

"It- it was Vlad Plasmius, the ghost from Wisconsin." I told him. "I have some files about a lot of ghosts you might need to fight on my computer. Hold on." I pulled out my laptop and logged on, clicking on the ghost files.

"Good. That's actually precisely what I came here for. I fought Plasmius just last night." Robin stated. I feigned surprise at this, raising my eyebrows, and went back to typing away on my computer.

"These files contain information on each individual ghost we've encountered. My family, my friends, and I have all compiled this information. I do a bit of ghost hunting myself. It's in my DNA." _Yeah, literally. _I added mentally. I pulled up files on Technus first.

"This was the ghost you fought on the first day. Let's see… his powers are obvious. He controls technology and he can upgrade himself." Robin nodded behind me. I can't believe what different hair and eyes can do for you. Hours ago I was being attacked by the Titans and now I'm fighting alongside them. I got my mind back on track and pulled up files on Skulker and Ember. "You haven't encountered them yet, but you just need to watch out. Skulker shows up the most, mostly to hunt the ghost boy so he always shows up where Phantom is. Underneath the cyber armor he's insanely tiny and harmless, but with it, he has rockets, lasers, guns, swords, knives, more weapons. Ember is his girlfriend. She uses the guitar as her weapon, attacking with sound waves when she hits a chord. She gets more powerful when people chant her name."

"Ember McClain, the rock star?" Robin asked, surprised.

"Yep." I continued on with my "lesson". "Then there are Spectra and her sidekick Bertrand. Long story short: Bertrand's a shapeshifter, Spectra feeds off the misery of others. If you ever run into them, think happy thoughts and don't let what she says get to you. The Box Ghost is harmless. Lunch Lady fights using meat. Klemper freezes stuff, but he's only looking for a friend. Undergrowth: plants. Vortex: weather. Youngblood: only kids can see the immature pest. Johnny 13 has a bad luck shadow. He's in love with his motorcycle and his girlfriend Kitty, who can make men disappear by blowing a kiss at them. That's basically it for the crash course in ghost fighting. Just preparing you for any situation. Now, here's the information you're probably looking for. Vlad Plasmius." I looked at my information that appeared on the screen. I was happy to tell any of Vlad's secrets, save for the half-ghost one.

"He has many of the same powers as Danny Phantom, his enemy. Ectoplasmic energy blast, defense shields, duplication, intangibility, invisibility, overshadowing, the standard ghostly powers. But one of his unique powers is electricity. He has a lab of his own, and a ghost portal. I've been captured before as bait." Technically not a lie. "He always is coming up with _some_ sort of evil scheme…" I scowled.

"Wow, thanks. This is really helpful. Just one more thing, can you show me Danny Phantom's file?"

"Uhh… sure, I guess. H-he's pretty hard to catch but I might have a bit of information." I said, my nerves getting the best of me. I typed in the name of my alter ego and my computer responded with results. Luckily I never keep a lot of information about my alter ego on my computer. I knew all of it by heart.

"Danny Phantom…" I pretended to just read all the stuff right off the screen. "Resident superhero of Amity Park. Powers: ectoplasmic energy blast, defense shields, duplication, intangibility, overshadowing, blahblahblah… he has a ghost sense, which looks like when it's winter and you can see your breath." I was kind of nervous to tell him that. What if it went off while he was here? "He has a "ghostly wail"; powerful move there. It's basically an incredibly strong sonic scream." I pretended that I didn't already know Robin had witnessed my strongest power firsthand. Twice. "Then he has ice powers. My sister always uses the word cryokinesis." I continued with my description.

"Hmm. Do you know anything about his personal life?" Robin questioned. _More than you know, dude._

"He has numerous fan clubs, most of which are led by Dash Baxter (ugh) and Paulina Sanchez (sigh)." I explained.

"You know them?"

"Dash has been bullying me and my friends since the fifth grade. Paulina moved to Amity Park a couple years ago from Mexico. Prettiest girl in the whole school, but no one ever had a chance because she is obsessed with Danny Phantom. I kinda gave up."

"Anything else?" _Ok, these questions were starting to get awkward. I'm definitely not going to tell him about the whole Circus Gothica thing. He'll never believe Freakshow made me rob all those places. Not telling about the town thinking I was a villain. That's definitely out._ I silently resolved.

"Uhh…" As I said this, my ghost sense went off. I covered my mouth and pretended to burp. I knew I shouldn't have told him about the ghost sense! "Excuse me. Nope nothing else. I guess that's all the information I can give you. You better get back to Titan's Tower."

"Whoa, what's the rush?" Robin asked, bewildered.

"No reason, just had a lot of coffee this morning. It's kicking in… now. Sorry to be rude! BYE!" I shoved him out the door and leaned against it. Who was it this time? I saw a figure come through the wall. Oh, no. not him…

"BEWARE! For I am the Box Ghost!" I stood there and uncapped the thermos with a bored look on my face. 'Ole Boxy was instantly sucked in. Boring. I had to push Robin out for that? It was time to look for Jazz, Tucker, and Sam. I put on a hoodie and left the room, making sure no one was around. I couldn't risk going ghost now, but if any ghosts or Titans saw me, I would undoubtedly have to answermore questions or go ghost, neither of which I felt like doing. Too much talking for one day.

NPOV

Sam opened her eyes slowly, feeling the cold metal beneath her. She sat up quickly and examined her surroundings. She was locked in a cage! She growled as she saw Tucker and Jazz still unconscious in two separate cages.

"Where am I?" she groggily thought aloud. "How did I get here?"

"You're in my clutches, girl. A warehouse. And I'm the one that brought you children here." She heard a dark voice behind her.

"Vlad," she spat "you'll never get away with this! Danny will rescue us!"

"I'm so sure." Vlad rolled his eyes. "You have no way of contacting him. Well, _almost_ no way. I took their cell phones, but I neglected to take yours out of respect. I _can_ be a gentleman, you know. And I might as well inform you that these cages are high voltage, my dear. If you don't do what I say, I'll flip the switch and both you _and_ your little friends fry." Sam blushed and glared at the man. She spun around, facing the opposite direction and took her phone out of her bra (What? It won't get stolen if you put it there!), grateful Vlad didn't ad pedophilia to his long list of crimes. She flung it at him, but he caught it easily in his right hand.

"And by the way," Vlad added, "it's just adorable how you actually believe he can stop me this time! The Teen Titans cannot help him, and neither can you. And it's not like his parents are of any use. He is completely and utterly alone." Vlad smirked.

"Danny is smarter than he looks!" Sam argued.

"Smarter than a man nearly three times his age?" Vlad asked.

"Well… no. Besides his dad… But that's not the point! He always comes through for me – err… Tucker, Jazz, and me."

Vlad grinned maliciously, mostly at the girl's comment about Jack, but then came to a realization.

"Ahh… I see. I do say... your little crush on him is rather interesting." Vlad mocked harshly. Sam's eyes widened.

"B-b-but that's – " Sam stuttered.

"Don't try to cover it up. It's way too obvious. You see, we're one and the same!" Sam raised one eyebrow, wondering what Vlad was up to now.

"I, too, have witnessed the pain of unrequited love." He sighed.

"Unrequited?"

"Oh, yes. Can't you see it? How he's infatuated with that _popular _girl, _Paulina_… and even Valerie! _That_ one came as a surprise. He loves a hunter bent on ending his existence _more_ than he loves you!" Sam was bewildered. The misery came crashing down on her. What did Vlad do, take a lesson from Spectra?

"That's not true!" Sam cried, regaining her confidence though her voice remained a little shaky.

"But it is! The friend-zone is a trap that is nearly impossible to escape. I say nearly because _good old Jack Fenton got out of it!_" he yelled the last part.

"I'm done with this conversation." Sam turned away from Vlad and sat down, sticking her nose up into the air.

"Very well, Samantha. I must go anyways, but I'll be back soon." He walked out of the room with his shoes clicking on the concrete floor with every step.

It gave Sam time to think alone. What Vlad said wasn't true! It couldn't be! On the balcony, Danny was hugging her so tightly, it felt like he wouldn't let go. He even thanked her for being there for him! Was he doing it because he meant it or because he felt sorry for her? She sighed in frustration. A short while later, she heard a faint rustling from both sides of her. Jazz and Tucker were finally stirring.

"What's going on?" Tucker rasped groggily.

"Why are we in cages?" Jazz was alarmed.

"Vlad kidnapped us and took our phones." Sam mumbled grumpily.

"Where is he?" Jazz asked.

"No clue. Said he had to leave for a while. He's been gone for about a half an hour."

"Uh, Sam? Don't you have that other cell?" Tucker reminded her. Sam facepalmed, feeling stupid as she took off her boot and actually thanked her parents for being overprotective.

"We have to send a code. If Vlad finds it…"

"I remember a code. It's simple, but I think it will do… you send numbers 1-26 1=a and 26=z. it goes in order." Tucker rubbed his chin in thought. Sam typed in her message: VLAD TRAPPED US AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE. WE ARE BEING TORTURED. HELP! Well, technically it wasn't a lie. He tortured my emotions and threatened to kill us. That's torture enough in my book. As soon as I pressed the send button, a gloved hand snatched my phone.

DPOV

My cell vibrated. I checked it immediately and prayed for a message from my friends. _Please, please, please, oh please._ When I saw the message I nearly jumped. It was from Sam!

"22 12 1 4. 20 18 1 16 16 5 4. 21 19. 1 14. 1 2 1 14 4 15 14 5 4. 23 1 18 5 8 15 21 19 5. 8 5. 9 19. 20 8 18 5 1 20 5 14 9 14 7. 20 15. 20 15 18 20 21 18 5. 21 19. 8 5 12 16! 1=a 26=z" How the heck am I supposed to figure that out? And how in the world did Sam write that?

Let's see… I went to a café, got a napkin, and took out my pen and began to write the alphabet. Hm… 1=a. Did that mean they all corresponded with their order in the alphabet? Like A was 1, B was 2 and so on? I tried that, channeling Tucker and Jazz and their problem solving skills.

VLAD TRAPPED US AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE. HE IS THREATENING TO TORTURE US. HELP!

Oh no… I rushed out of the café leaving many confused looks behind me. I couldn't go ghost now; there were too many people around! I sprinted down the street. My hood was still up. Stupid hoodie. My lungs were on fire and I was breathing heavily. I needed to find this warehouse. I remember seeing one near the shore when I was chasing after Vlad! I headed for the beach.

The sand was in my sneakers, making it a whole lot harder to run. As I rounded the corner, I saw the warehouse. I quietly went ghost. I hadn't seen any of the Titans on my way here and there was no sign of them anywhere. I floated closer and heard the shouts of my friends.

"What a clever little girl you are. I'm simply kicking myself. I should have checked your shoe. No matter, I still have the power to fry you all. You're muddling up my plans anyway." Vlad stated. My eyes widened in disbelief. He wouldn't! Oh wait… he attempted to murder my dad, what, at least a thousand times? He wouldn't hesitate to get rid of a few kids.

"Gimme back my phone you nutty old bat!" that was Sam.

"Not until you tell me who you've contacted, though I suppose I already know. This code is elementary, dear girl. You'd need more than that to fool me! You had to be contacting someone who isn't intelligent enough to figure out a more difficult code. But who do we know who's a little under par when it comes to academics?" Vlad's tone was sarcastic.

I flew silently into the warehouse and snuck up on Vlad from behind. I blasted him in the back.

"It's not under par! I've been getting B's!" I shouted at him.

"Ah, Daniel. Right on cue. Wonderful timing, little badger." He smirked. I was enraged. How dare he call me that stupid name? I duplicated myself and blasted Vlad. He hit the wall and was a bit stunned at my anger. I looked at Sam, Tuck, and Jazz. They were a bit bruised and they looked like they hadn't eaten.

"What have you done to my friends?" I flew at him faster than I had ever flown before. I was filled with rage. He laughed. That did it. I froze his hands and feet together with handcuffs made of ice. He broke free with his electric shock and pinned me to the wall. His hand was squeezing my neck, making me see spots.

I struggled and kicked, but it was no use. My friends screamed my name. Everything started to become a blur. I changed back into a human, losing energy rapidly. However, I had enough power to contort my body and give Vlad one more kick to the head. A rush of adrenaline surged through me as my foot made contact. Vlad was knocked out and unconsciously transformed as my vision went black.

* * *

**So there it is! And about that whole scene with the phone in the bra... I know a lot of people who keep their phone there, and Sam just seems like someone who would do that. I thought it would be a kind of funny touch to her character. And also Vlad is NOT after Sam in any way. He just can't stop himself from trying to hurt Danny and his friends in the worst possible ways. Though I can't lie, that idea, however disgusting it is, intrigues me, because Sam is extremely similar to Maddie in many ways, especially the eyes. (SORRY FOR THE MENTAL IMAGES). But seriously, that IS NOT what is going on here. EW.**

**Now stop... SHOUTOUT TIME! **

**A BIG THANKS TO THE REVIEWERS:**

**Major Simi  
**

**2288smile**

**jeannette9a**

**this story kicks . well i wo - I was seriously confused by this review... does it kick butt? If that's what you meant, then thanks!**

**forever LuNa  
**

**Darkkami**

**Kirbysamful**

**book phan44 - Robin probably will listen to Danny sometime in the future... after he clears his name... _if _he clears his name ;) (Typical cryptic author. SORRY! haha)**

**ChopSuzi  
**

**nycorrall**

**lunalovegood0628**

**InvaderL**

**ZAP - Thank you so much! I was having that exact same problem as well, so I figured, why not write one of my own? And I will try my hardest to finish! I'm one of those people who often gets writer's block, unfortunately, but I'm overcoming it pretty well actually...**

**TheTragicHero - And now I'm looking for a way to fit Brother Blood into this story...  
**

**AND ONCE AGAIN! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I really do appreciate the reviews. Keep on reviewing! They make me feel special! :D**

**TheNumberFour, OUT!**


	6. Chapter 6

**NEW CHAP! Sorry about the wait :(**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TT OR DP D:**

* * *

My eyes fluttered a bit as I began to regain consciousness.

"Robin, come quickly. He is awaking now." Starfire murmured. My eyelids fluttered. I blinked the blurriness out of my vision and sat up quickly, only to have a massive pain run pulse at my temples. Stupid head rush.

"W-what happened? Where am I? How did I get here?" I asked to no one in particular. In response, the Titans crowded around me.

"You're in our infirmary." Raven replied.

"We found the warehouse where your friends were being kept. They told us they'd been captured by Vlad Plasmius." Cyborg added. "Apparently Sam had a backup cell phone that Plasmius didn't take. She sent you a message, hoping you'd be smart and let _us_ handle the whole situation, but instead-" he was cut off.

"You just HAD to be stupid and come try to save us yourself didn't you?" Oh geez. Sam. I winced.

"If anyone asks, I'm still unconscious." I whispered, closing my eyes and lying still.

"Too late for that, mister." _Jazz._ Great, now I had to face the wrath of both Sam _and _Jazz! I groaned and sat up. "Can I have a minute with my friends?" I asked. The Titans nodded and left the room.

"What's the matter with you guys? You _know_ I can handle Plasmius!" I protested. They all shared a glance.

"Not alone in an unfamiliar city! The first, second, and third times you had at least one of our parents. Then you had me in Vlad's battle suit. Then you had Clockwork and the alternate-timeline parents and Vlad wasn't even a ghost then! And after that you had Sam, Tucker, _sometimes_ Danielle, and Valerie_ once_." Jazz reminded me.

"Alright, you guys have me there, but I've gotten stronger! I can take him!" I argued. They sighed as I asked them a few questions. "How are you guys? How exactly did Vlad threaten you?"

"We're ok. He starved us," My eyes widened a little, but Sam interjected.

"It was only a few hours. It's only 'starving' by your standards." She scoffed.

"_Anyway…_ he took away my tech, Jazz's phone, and Sam's first phone. Thank goodness for those combat boots. That's where she hid her other one." Tuck explained. "We didn't have any food or water. He threatened to hurt us by electrifying the cages, and I'm sure he would have if you didn't show up in time. I guess he wanted us to stay intact. And wanted your anger to not rise to its maximum."

I shrugged and got out of bed. My friends attempted to push me down, but I stood up anyway. "Guys, I heal fast! How bad was this bruise an hour ago?" I pointed to the once-black-and-blue bruise I had gotten from Vlad's strangulation, which was currently yellowing. They reluctantly let me stand up and I hugged them. "Guys I'm SO sorry you're caught up in this mess. I tried my best to save you from Vlad, but his plan was to set the Titans after me and I would have followed him-"

"Alright, slow down. Apology accepted. You tried your best. We can hear the rest of the story later. Now where's a place to get some food? I'm starved." said Sam, after placing a hand over my mouth to silence my rambling.

"No idea. Let's explore!" I said. My friends didn't like the idea.

"Didn't the Titans say Vlad was staying here with them?" Tucker asked me.

"Yeah but I kicked him so hard he probably isn't going to wake up for a while…" I said, remembering the kick. I poured every ounce of power I could into that last-minute attack. Vlad may have had the same healing abilities I had, but I didn't think he could recover so quickly from an attack that powerful.

"I doubt that." Sam said uneasily, but then again, didn't she doubt most things?

"Then let's find the kitchen. Or at least get someone to show us around." I resolved. The door slid open and we stepped out into the hall. We saw BeastBoy pass by.

"Hey! Can you show us to the kitchen? We're all really hungry."

"Sure! Just watch your step. I've laid a lot of prank traps for Cyborg. One wrong step and you'll be covered in mysterious goo…" We carefully made our way down the hall to a big set of sliding doors.

"Right this way." He said with a smile. "I have tofu if anyone wants it!" Sam's hand shot up. Of course. As soon as I stepped through the doors, I lost my appetite. There, sitting with a black eye and an ice pack on his head in all of his evil nutcase glory, was Vlad Masters himself. I narrowed my eyes.

"Lost my appetite. Back to bed!" I said quietly and turned on my heel, but I was too late.

"Daniel! How pleasant it is to see you, my boy." I turned around slowly.

"Yeah Vlad, how's it going?" I asked rhetorically through clenched teeth. His smile said it all. He had won over the Titans. He'd told them Danny Phantom kicked him in the face and knocked me out as well. He told Robin that Phantom's reaction in the clearing was an act. He told them that Danny Phantom was an evil twisted soul that could do no good, and that he was teamed up with their worst enemy, Slade. I growled.

"It's going wonderfully. Except for the fact I'm being hunted by a vile, insolent, adolescent ghost." He replied nonchalantly, but I heard the venom in his voice. I tried my hardest to keep my eyes from glowing green.

"Danny Phantom would never do that. Did you consider that old, creepy, ugly, lonely, single, childless ghost? You know, the one with the weird, pointy hair? And the cape that totally doesn't go with his outfit? I'm sure you know who I'm talking about. The one that haunted your mansion in Wisconsin and pathetically attempted to kill my father." Okay, maybe I was pushing it a little. Vlad's eyes got a subtle red-tinted glow. He was obviously attempting to mask the angry red flash. Sam grabbed my wrist. "Come on Danny. I think you should get some food." She pulled me to the fridge. "What in the world are you thinking? We all barely escaped with our lives last night and you're picking a fight _again_?" she whispered.

"Sorry. I lose control of my mouth around _him_." I spat under my breath.

I started to eat a bit of cereal. Vlad was watching me intently. "I'm sorry, but is there a problem? Because you're kind of creeping me out." I asked.

"No. Nothing at all. How's your 'ole dad doing?" Oh no. I hadn't even talked to my parents for days!

"Yes, he's fine, but with all of this chaos, I haven't even spoken to them. Have you run into them lately?" Vlad smirked. I wanted to make sure he hadn't been anywhere near them.

"Not at all. I heard they were at a convention. There must be a lot of explosives. It would be a shame if your father's stupidity caused him to-"

"If you value your existence, you won't finish that sentence." I spat quietly. Robin glanced over to where we were standing. If I could have seen his eyes, I'm sure they'd have been wide. His facial expression told me that he recognized the situation I was in right now.

"Ok, Danny! It's time to check up with Robin!" Tuck said and pulled me away to go see Robin, who was sitting in front of a giant computer screen with Danny Phantom's Wikipedia page. He was taking a lot of notes. He started to speak to me, "I found your information helpful, but I thought I should do some research on my own."

"Mhm… what have you found?" I asked uneasily.

"He has turned evil a few times. Hmmm… He's been declared Public Ghost Enemy Number One, hunted by numerous ghost hunting associations, he's robbed banks. All of it is very questionable." He pondered his information. Vlad looked intrigued.

"Uhh, but I think some psycho benefactor paid all of those hunters to chase him. And I heard his mind was being controlled by the ringmaster of Circus Gothica when he robbed the banks. At least that's what the police report said. I'm a big Phantom Fan…" I covered for my alternate self.

Robin clicked out of the webpage and stood up from his chair, sizing me up. Had I said too much? I was under too much pressure. Both Vlad and Robin were staring at me like I was nuts (obviously Vlad didn't know about the Circus Gothica incident), Sam and Tuck were trying to keep me under control, and the smell of tofu was slowly making me nauseous. I looked around, desperate for an escape, though I hope my facial expression didn't give it away. I caught Sam's eye. _Please help me_, I tried communicate mentally with my gaze, hoping she'd understand what I needed.

"Hey, Danny, your cereal's getting soggy!" she called over to me.

"I hate mushy Cocoa Puffs. Bye!" I slipped away, but the suspicious stares followed me. I shoveled the cereal into my mouth and left the room, intent on going to back to lie down in the infirmary, but was pulled into a closet.

"What? Who?" I exclaimed in shock.

"It's just me, quiet down." A low voice said.

"Raven? Why am I here?" I was surprised. Did she know? Out of all the Titans, she was the one who talked the least. How could she have found out so quickly? She could read minds. I had no idea how many powers she had.

"I know you're hiding something. What it is, I'm not exactly sure of at the moment. But I wanted to tell you that if you don't tell us, you can get hurt." She sounded somewhat threatening, but I understood she was really giving me a warning.

"Alright then. Thanks, but I'm perfectly fine." I left Raven behind in the closet and resumed my walk down the hall. This time I was pulled through the wall. "Not now, Vlad." I hissed.

"Oh my message won't take long. I just want you to know that if you make one of those snide remarks again, the result won't be good. And when I say that, I mean it won't be good for you. I, on the other hand, will be quite satisfied." He threatened darkly.

"Oh, Vladdy, no more witty banter? Come on, where's your sense of humor?"

"I have the GigaPlasmius (that's my name for it). I can turn you ghost in the middle of the living room, for all the Titans to see."

"And what if I turn it on you?" I countered. He chuckled.

"Severe punishment." He whispered. I gulped.

* * *

**'Sup guys? How are all of my awesome readers? Sorry about the huge wait. I just haven't had a lot of time to upload this chap. SOFTBALL! It takes up my life! But I love it anyway... *shrugs* **

**But also, for those of you who also follow Betrothed, I have a little update. My writer's block is unbelievable. Byron (my muse/imagination, who I've named because of someone who I was talking to on Omegle who gave me some writing tips) is being a big, fat jerk right now. The next chapter is not coming along like I thought it would. I'm only getting out about one or two sentences a day. You guys rock for being so patient! THANKS! :)**

**Now stop... SHOUTOUT TIME!**

**This story has 71 reviews, 3,874 hits, 32 favs, and 64 alerts! I LOVE YOU ALL! :)**

**Thank you to those who reviewed last chapter:**

**CSIalchemist: Danny- He doesn't always have the best instincts.  
**

**nycorrall**

**Pichicha123**

**forever LuNa**

**Major Simi**

**xangabell**

**book phan44: This pretty much explains it. Danny's off the hook, but Phantom's DEFINITELY not!  
**

**2288smile: You're welcome! And I'm saying your name AGAIN :)  
**

**coopt98**

**jeannette9a: I didn't!**

**Cry-Pom  
**

**Bluesky21543  
**

**ChopSuzi: Would they be "fangirl" screaming or "damsel-in-distress" screaming? Hmmm :) For a moment, I was thinking you forgot Sam too, but then I realized, Sam isn't really the fangirling type...  
**

**InvaderL: Included again! :D**

**ParkerAA**

**So please, everyone, KEEP REVIEWING! I'm a review addict! Whenever I get a review I feel so special! *WARMFUZZIES***

**~TheNumberFour is out. PEACE.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh, hey, readers!**

**Since my summer is very uneventful and I have no life, I decided to update two stories!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. If I did, neither show would have ended. **

* * *

I walked slowly back to the infirmary, making sure I wasn't pulled anywhere again. I sighed. I was going to have to do it. The Titans were going to have to know. Raven's advice got through to me more than I let on. As I thought about it more, I figured that the Titans would respect me if my secret was revealed, but then my skeptical opinion reared its ugly head.

They'd automatically pin the "crimes" they believed I'd committed on my human half as well as my ghost half, just like my parents would. They'd think of me as a liar. My instincts kept me from telling them for that reason. Robin was just too stubborn to believe my story. I could see that he had faced a lot of deception in the past.

I suddenly turned around, hearing commotion from the meeting room. A siren was going off. I backtracked and the sliding doors opened in front of me.

"What's going on?" I yelled over the siren.

"There's a breach in security. Someone's inside the tower without authorization!" Cy shouted back. I frantically glanced at Sam, Tuck, and my sister. What was Vlad up to now?

"Get somewhere safe!" I warned them. Jazz nodded in response and grabbed both Sam and Tucker's wrists and dragged them out of the room.

Skulker phased up through the floor.

"Skulker?! What are you doing here?" I shouted over the din. Wordlessly he fired a barrage of lasers at me, which I dodged as I ran to the door.

"You want me? Come and get me!" I ran down the hall, looking for a place I could transform. When I found a closet, I rushed inside and slammed the door shut behind me. The bright light engulfed the room and I phased out through the roof, trying to get as far away as possible from the tower. No more innocent lives were going to be endangered by Vlad and his partner in crime (no pun intended). Glancing back at the tower, I noticed that Skulker hadn't followed me. I felt like a coward, running away from Titans' Tower like that. I had to go back.

I invisibly watched the fight through a shattered window. The Titans were holding their own against Skulker. Raven subdued him with her black energy, but he broke free numerous times, shooting lasers and bullets, which were repelled by various weapons in Robin's utility belt and Star's starbolts. _Why isn't he coming after me?_ I asked myself. His suit could sense me, even if I was invisible. Why didn't he just go for it?

"Where is Vlad Masters?" Skulker barked.

"Why do you need to know?" BeastBoy shouted in response.

"I have my orders. Danny Phantom wants him destroyed immediately. If you have any complaints, you can take it up with Phantom." Skulker explained with a sly grin. "He's right outside your window watching our fight right now." Skulker pointed directly at me; his mechanical eyes could sense me even if I was invisible. I could understand the plan now. Vlad ordered Skulker here to incriminate me even more.

"He is out there. I can feel his energy." Raven stated. Their heads snapped to me. I was so shocked I lost my hold on my invisibility.

"Beast Boy and Cyborg, stay here and bring this guy down. Star and Raven, come with me. We're getting Phantom."

I turned and dove toward the city, turning invisible once again. The problem was that Raven could sense my energy, so she, Robin, and Star were right on my tail. I looked back, Star was carrying Robin and Raven was leading the way. I had to get lost in the crowd, which meant turning human. But how could I? They probably thought I was back at the tower! I formulated a plan. I tried to lose them as best as I could. I flew through three skyscrapers at top speed, hoping the buildings would delay Raven, Robin, and Starfire from finding me. I found the alley next to the convention center where my parents said they would be, transformed, and rushed inside.

NPOV

Robin was steaming.

"Why won't this Phantom kid quit? I realize why Slade wants him for an apprentice. He's more elusive than Slade could ever hope to be!" He seethed.

"Robin, if you don't mind, I'm trying to concentrate." Raven said, still keeping her eyes forward. "He's still ahead of us. Very close."

The three heroes followed closely behind the ghost boy. They came to an abrupt stop when he went intangible and flew through nearly three blocks of buildings.

"It is necessary to go over the buildings, friends." Star stated the obvious. As they were halfway past the obstacles, Raven stopped.

"Raven? What happened? You couldn't have lost the trail!" Robin exclaimed. Raven shook her head.

"Calm down. I've traced it and I know where it's coming from. The thing is that it… changed. I don't know how. His energy has been masked somehow. It's still there, but it's been weakened. And that's not all. It seems familiar, but I just can't seem to place it. It's coming from there." Raven gestured to a building across the street, which had a banner strung across the front, which read "GHOST HUNTING CONVENTION! ALL GHOST HUNTERS WELCOME!" in neon green print.

"That can't be right. Why would a ghost hide in a ghost hunting convention?" Robin asked himself aloud. The three Titans landed gently on the ground near the door and entered the building.

"I can sense him, but his energy is masked so well I can't pinpoint the exact location. He practically blends in with the rest of the population. I'm not of much use to you now. I wouldn't be able to tell if he was standing right next to me." Raven glanced around from underneath her hood."

"Let's separate. We'll search different areas for any suspicious activity." Robin resolved. The two girls nodded and went off in separate directions.

A mess of shaggy, black hair caught Robin's eye. He began to weave through the crowd of supernatural scientists toward Danny Fenton, who was talking to a large, hulking man with slightly-graying hair in an orange spandex jumpsuit and a petite brunette woman in a matching teal jumpsuit.

"Danny?" Robin grabbed Danny's shoulder and spun him around.

"Hi, Robin." Danny replied nervously.

"I thought you were back at the tower. How did you get here so fast?"

Danny shrugged, "I'm pretty fast in emergency situations." He mumbled. "I was talking to my parents. After the _incident_ at the tower," Danny hinted at not mentioning the ghost attack to his parents (who knows what would have happened if he brought up a ghost attack in a convention center full of ghost hunters?), "I thought it would be safer if I carried a Fenton thermos. I lost mine somewhere and I need a new one."

"Danny! Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" The woman – most likely his mother – questioned him.

DPOV

"Mom, this is Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans. They protect this city." I explained to her.

"Oh, you should come to Amity Park sometime! Take care of that horrible Danny Phantom." My mom suggested cheerfully, but not without grimacing at the name of my alter ego. I mentally facepalmed.

"Oh, Danny! Your father created a new ghost detection device while we were here! It's more of an improved version of the ones he broke before." This couldn't be good. She switched the machine on and Robin watched intently as the green, LED display flared to life.

"There is a ghost three feet in front of you." The mechanical female voice spoke calmly. The whole area around us went silent then broke into furious whispers. Ecto-guns were loaded. Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Danny, move now!" said my father, jumping into action. "There's a ghost in the exact spot you're standing!" My eyes widened. Robin raised an eyebrow. I grabbed the device and switched it off quickly.

"You know, that's probably me. I'm in the lab so often helping you guys, I must be contaminated with a little ectoplasm! That's got to be it. I never wear my HAZMAT suit…" I trailed off.

"That seems logical, sweetie, but we are definitely having a talk about this when we get home. You always have to wear proper protective equipment in the laboratory." My mom gave me a stern look.

"False alarm everyone!" my dad's booming voice rang out. I grabbed the thermos and said my goodbyes, promising to tell Jazz to call them. I dragged Robin with me through the crowd. When I glanced back to check on Robin, I bumped into someone. I turned my head to look.

"Excuse me… Valerie?!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" I gave my frenemy a small hug, just hoping she didn't know about Danny Phantom's presence and reputation in Jump City.

"Danny! I should have known you'd be here. An expensive prototype from Axion is on display here and they sent my dad to guard it, so I had to come along." Val explained. "Who's this?"

"Robin. The actual Robin. Who fights alongside Batman." I whispered while Robin stood a short distance away talking on his communicator. "He leads the Teen Titans who protect this city."

"We're on the lookout for Danny Phantom right now." Robin added as he entered into the conversation again. I wished he hadn't. Now I had the Titans, Vlad, Masked Weirdo, Mom and Dad (not to mention the rest of the ghost hunters at this convention), and Valerie on my tail! Valerie's eyes widened.

"I happen to know a lot about Danny Phantom." Val spat, her disgust for my alter ego clearly visible. Val took a scrap of paper and a pen out of her purse and scribbled. "If you need anything, just call. See you around, Danny! It was nice seeing you."

Vlad planned this, didn't he? He wanted to make sure I didn't make it out of this city alive. Either that or he wanted me to beg him for mercy and join his side. He's got another thing coming if he thinks I'd go down that easily.

"Why did that girl – Valerie, was it? – seem so hostile towards Danny Phantom? Isn't the whole town supposed to be buying the story that he's a hero?" Robin snapped me out of my thoughts. I mentally cringed at the second part of his question and thought carefully about how I would respond. Robin knew I was friends with Valerie. Obviously, I would know about her animosity towards my alter ego.

"Valerie used to be one of the popular kids in my school. Her dad made a ton of money designing security systems for Axion Labs, a research facility stationed in Amity Park. There was an incident that caused her father to lose his job, but luckily the company rehired him as a security guard. It was all over the news. A ghost dog, which Axion used to use to protect the facility, ran wild on the premises and destroyed a lot of expensive projects. Since Danny Phantom was there attempting to stop the dog, she pins it on him." I didn't go any further describing the Red Huntress. That was Val's secret to tell, not mine. And I wouldn't want the Titans teaming up with her either.

He nodded, then craned his neck and scanned the room.

"Where are Starfire and Raven?" Robin checked his communicator again, beginning to pace.

"Calm down, big guy. They're not that hard to find." I jumped on an empty stool nearby and looked around the large convention hall. I easily spotted Starfire's orange complexion and bright red hair and Raven's blue-black cloak. They definitely contrasted against all the silver, black, and neon green color scheme the majority of the ghost hunters were wearing. We gathered the two girls and exited the building.

"You're actually pretty good, you know that?" Robin smirked.

"I'm just surprised you didn't think of it, ever-resourceful Boy Wonder." I replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Raven staring at me oddly, but I ignored her gaze.

"Let us fly home now and defeat the Skulker with new friend Danny's soup container." Star suggested. I was about to transform as a reflex, but I remembered my situation and let Raven grab hold of my arms. We flew into the sky and raced back to the tower. Not to brag or anything, but I flew just a bit faster than them. I smirked a little bit at that.

The scene looked grim, but BeastBoy and Cyborg were still holding their own. We landed in the room through a broken window.

"Hey Skulker!" I jumped forward before any of the Titans could do anything.

"Whelp?! How did you –" he was cut off as I uncapped the thermos and activated it, effectively trapping him.

"Where did that – is that a thermos? Where the heck was that thing 45 minutes ago?!" BeastBoy shrieked.

"Yeah man, where did you get that?" Cyborg was just as confused as his best friend.

"When Skulker here attacked, I realized that I lost my Fenton Thermos, a contraption my parents built to trap ghosts. I got to convention center as fast as I could to get an extra one from my parents." I lied. I had gained a lot of practice telling my parents why I'd missed curfews.

"Weird. You don't look all that sweaty to me," Raven spoke up, "and it's a pretty hot day out. We are also on an island." My eyes widened. I dug around in my pocket, praying I had the pellets. I finally found them, thanking Jazz and my mother for making sure I always carried them with me.

I threw one to the ground and watched it expand into an inflatable motorized raft. "My mom makes me carry some for emergencies. I also flagged down a cab. I'm failing gym. I couldn't possibly run all the way across the city that fast!"

"But the traffic –" Raven tried to add.

"Danny! You're back!" Sam and Jazz hugged me and Tuck slapped my back.

"Man, Skulker made a mess in here…" Tucker surveyed his surroundings.

"I cannot believe you went out alone! Skulker could have followed you. Then what would you have done?" Jazz scolded me.

"He was after Vlad. I don't know why…" I trailed off, trying to keep up the act then whispered, "He's trying to frame Phantom."

"Well, Jazz, it is pretty believable. This is Danny we're talking about here. He's always trying to be the hero." Sam smirked at her statement, but I gave her a look telling her she said too much. The Titans were way too close to finding out my identity. I was pretty sure Raven knew already and Robin was incredibly close to finding out. One more joke like that could blow my whole secret.

"Wha- what was that?" Vlad stepped into the room. I rolled my eyes at the act he put on.

"Skulker attacked. He was looking for you." I said nonchalantly.

"Skulker?" I was ready to punch him. My agitation rose rapidly and I gritted my teeth.

"Don't sound confused. You're the mayor of Amity Park, where this ghost attacks _daily_. You should know his name by now. He shouts it only every five seconds! 'I am Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!'" Sam responded for me. Vlad's eyes narrowed.

"It would behoove you not to speak that way to me, Samantha. I know perfectly well who Skulker is. But I'm confused. Why would he come after me? Is it Danny Phantom _again_?" He answered her in his typical, condescending, good-ole-Vladdie way.

"_SAMANTHA?!_" Sam screeched. "Oh that is _IT_! BEHOOVE THIS, YOU –" I covered her mouth before any inappropriate expletives could escape. Tucker and Jazz restrained her. While Sam was having her episode, Robin answered Vlad's question.

"It was Phantom. He was even outside the window watching our battle with Skulker. We tried to track the kid down, but he was just too quick. Instead, we found Danny at the ghost hunting convention getting a Fenton Thermos from his parents."

"Oh, how… convenient. I thought he was in the tower! How did he get to the convention center so quickly?" Oh, Vlad. Always trying to get me into a sticky situation…

By this time, Sam had calmed down for the most part, so I stepped forward to explain.

"Fenton Floater," I held up the capsule, "taxi ride, flew back with Robin, Raven, and Star." I shrugged and turned back to my sister.

"By the way, Mom and Dad wanted you to call." She nodded and left the room to use her cell phone. The other Titans dispersed. Robin probably went to his room, BeastBoy went to the fridge and offered Sam some tofurkey, Tucker went with Cyborg to check out the T-Car, and Starfire sat on the couch drinking… mustard? Raven was meditating in a dark corner of the room. Vlad still sat staring at me.

"What do you want, fruitloop?" I asked quietly.

"I'm impressed, Daniel, simply impressed. You're already becoming a master at lying. You're actually fooling the Titans. I wasn't sure you could do it at first, but you are. You're becoming more like me every day." He chuckled softly and darkly. My eyes widened. I had already seen what the world had become in the Future Me's alternate timeline. I couldn't – _wouldn't_ – ever turn out like Vlad.

"I'm nothing like you." I whispered and swiftly exited the room. I barely knew my way around the tower, but somehow I had made it to the roof, my intended location. I needed to think. Even at home I always sat on the roof of the Op Center when I needed some time alone. I looked out to the ocean, thinking of some way to overcome Vlad's plan. I crouched on the ledge of the building, staring off into the horizon.

* * *

**So yup. I don't know how Valerie will fit into the rest of the story. I only included her here to increase the Titans' suspicion about Phantom's motives and allegiances. If you want her to stay and become more of a major character, feel free to leave me a review.**

**Stop... SHOUTOUT TIME!**

**Big thanks to reviewers:**

**jeannette9a**

**CSIalchemist**

**Skye Bloodwillow**

**Clockwork's Apperentice**

**Guest****s,(****whoever you may be)****  
**

**Splashfire**

**InvaderL**

**Major Simi**

**Kirbysamful**

**ChopSuzi****: Thanks! I love writing Vlad. It's a lot of fun trying to get inside the head of an evil mastermind!**

**2288smile****: You're welcome, AGAIN :) Heehee**

**fanficfantasies**

**EmoPyromaniac**

**pseudocricket****: Yeah. I have a pacing problem... I'm trying my best to fix it :/ Thanks for the review! :)**

**Lia**** Alcona****: My virtual kitty and cookie, please. Hand 'em over! Hahaha :)**

**Lalalaaady**

**Turkeyhead987**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiya, readers!** **New chappie! And this one's a doozie.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans, no matter how much I wish I did...**

* * *

I heard movement behind me. When I turned to look, I saw Robin, who, apparently, had the same idea I had. Had he been there the whole time? If he was, I didn't notice.

"Something bothering you?" he was the first to speak.

"A couple things actually." I looked back at the city.

"Care to explain?"

"Not really. You couldn't possibly understand." I sat, my feet dangling over the ledge. Like I was going to explain my problems to the kid leading the hunt for the head of my alter ego. He happened to be one of those problems.

"Try me." His subtle challenge was noted. I paused, debating on whether or not I should get up and leave or confess my thoughts to Robin. Leaving could have made me look suspicious. On the other hand, Robin might have had some superhero wisdom to help me out a little. I took a deep breath and wondered how to explain my issues without giving away my identity.

"Vlad Masters is on the top of a long, long list of people that I hate. Higher on the list than the loser who beats me up in school." Robin looked a bit concerned at this, but allowed me to go on with my explanation. "He hates my dad and is in love with my mom. Gross, right? He's really open about it too. It's creepy." Robin nodded and I continued. "Ever since we met, we've both noticed… some _similarities._ He wants me to be just like him; his son; his… apprentice." As I was speaking I realized that he probably did relate to me. _Robin hates Slade, who uses young heroes as his apprentices. Robin was once, even though it was against his will._ The things Vlad told me during the battle in the clearing rushed back into my memory.

"I know what you're talking about… all too well, I'm afraid." He turned away.

"There's a villain in this city. He goes by the name of Slade. As much as I hate to admit it, we're also very similar. A while back, he forced me to become his apprentice by threatening my friends. I did some things I really don't want to talk about."

"Wow… sounds a lot like what I have to deal with…" he looked at me oddly, "On a much larger scale of course." I added hastily. It was most definitely not on a larger scale. We were both superheroes. Vlad and this Slade guy were both supervillains. The only difference was that Robin had gone through it; he'd actually done what Slade wanted. We sat in silence for a moment.

"What was it like?" I broke the silence quietly. I had often thought about it, how it would feel if I _did_ join Vlad, just out of pure curiosity. I would never consider taking that option in a million years, but I couldn't help but wonder.

"It was terrifying… but exhilarating. I was scared of the consequences: whether or not my friends would forgive me; if I would ever escape Slade's clutches or what would happen to my friends if I ever tried. But I'm ashamed to admit that part of me was excited by it. It was a rush, different from being a hero. The adrenaline runs through your veins and makes you stronger and faster when you're trying not to get caught. I hate myself for feeling that way. Just don't let that make you think I enjoyed committing crimes. I hated it more than anything in the world." He confessed miserably, resting his head in his gloved hands. I was shocked at his confession and I could tell he had never told anyone this before.

"Why are you telling me this?" I voiced my question.

"Because you asked?" Robin was puzzled.

"That's not what I meant. I can tell you've never told anyone what you truly felt." I clarified.

"For some reason, I feel I can relate to you more than the others. The Titans are my best friends… but to find someone who knows what it's like, even if it isn't as severe a case, makes me just a little relieved."

Robin and I were more similar than he realized. We _were_ going through the same thing.

"Thanks. This really helped me." I was sincerely grateful.

"No problem. Getting it all off my chest helped me too." He also sounded appreciative. We both heard a crash coming from downstairs.

"How about we go break up whatever chaos is going on down there?" I suggested with a smirk.

"Good plan." We arrived in the living room shortly. BeastBoy, Cyborg, and Tucker were fuming while Sam sat on the couch grinning away.

"Let me guess. She beat you guys in Doomed?" They nodded slowly and simultaneously, mouths open wide with surprise.

"We didn't even have a chance! She killed us three seconds after I pressed start!" Cyborg was amazed.

"Not surprised. Sam's just good like that." I turned to address Sam herself, "Ok, give 'em a chance to recover. I wanna take a whack at Doomed. It's been forever since I logged on anyway." I pushed everyone out of the way and entered my nickname (GhostBoy) and password into the box. As soon as I realized what I had typed out for the whole room to see on the big screen, I pressed the enter button quickly.

"Cool nickname." BeastBoy complimented warily.

"Thanks. I came up with it because… the night I made this account, my parents were droning on and on about Phantom during dinner... and I guess it just gave me this idea… I don't know, it was cool at the time…" I have to stop babbling when I'm nervous. The page took some time to load. Another thought popped into my mind. I hadn't played since Technus invaded the game and my ghost half altered my avatar's appearance. Did my avatar still look like Phantom? _Oh crap…_ I thought of a way to cover that detail quickly. My blue-eyed, black-haired avatar popped onto the screen and I breathed a sigh of relief. How would I have covered for myself if they'd seen my other character?

In a matter of minutes, I had defeated both BeastBoy and Cyborg's characters and was leaned back, relaxing victoriously on the couch.

All of a sudden, the sirens began to blare.

"Titans!" Robin exclaimed, racing to the computer, which automatically x-ed out of the Doomed program and showed live footage of the current chaos in the city. There were moths attacking everything in sight and a giant mechanical dog was running wild. A dark, blob-like shape was darting in and out of frame, also causing destruction.

"It's Johnny Rancid… and Kitten? That's weird. She must be fighting with Fang again. Why else would she be with Rancid? And wait… there's another dude on a bike and a chick with green dreads." BeastBoy squinted at the screen, trying to pick out the source of the chaos.

"Friends of yours?" Robin turned to me, and turned to me as I walked up behind him.

"I'd know those two anywhere. Johnny 13 is on the bike and Kitty is his girlfriend. I told you about them. It's seriously surreal how similar our lives are. Two temperamental "Kittens" and two skuzzy "Johnnies"? Did _this_ Kitten ever try to date _you_?" I remembered how Kitty posed as Paulina and dated me just to make Johnny jealous. I heard Sam growl softly behind me; obviously she remembered as well. Robin just nodded in astonishment and Starfire tensed slightly at the question.

"Man, this is _scary_." I stated in surprise. An annoyed Sam interrupted the conversation.

"Anyways, you three should know," she pointed to BB, Cy, and Robin, "Kitty can get rid of you by blowing a kiss at you. And Johnny 13 has that bad luck shadow, which breaks or completely destroys everything it touches, but it can be weakened with light. Now, get going!" The five heroes sprang into action and were out of the room in a matter of seconds. Robin, who was last to leave, turned back to face us.

"Stay put, all of you. It's safer that way." As the door slid shut behind them, I rolled my eyes. I hated having to sit on the sidelines. I just couldn't risk using my powers. I _could_ go as Danny Fenton, though. I had some ecto-weapons and my thermos.

"Are you nuts?" Sam took notice of the thoughtful look on my face.

"_Relax._ I'm only going to use ghost weapons." I shrugged. I always carried a few weapons just in case of an emergency. "I can't _not_ save the city."

"Your use of double-negatives further worries me." Tucker piped up from the couch. Jazz stood up.

"Danny, you can't go. Didn't you hear what Robin said?" My sister scolded me.

"Duh. And that's exactly why I _have to go_." I grinned. "I'll be _fine_! See you guys." I walked out the door. Now came the matter of getting off the island. The Titans already took the T-Car and Robin took his own motorcycle. Man, _I _needed a motorcycle. I pouted, resolving use the Fenton Floater – for real this time. Good thing it was motorized.

A few minutes later, I pulled up to the mainland pushed a button on the side of the Floater, and capsulated it again. I heard crashes and commotion about a block over, so I ran as fast as I could to find the source.

I arrived at the scene and saw a tremendous metal bulldog, slobbering oil and muddy, disgusting-looking liquid all over. Johnny 13 was sending his Shadow all over, with Kitty clinging to him on the back of the motorcycle, shooting her own ectoblasts at the Titans. The civilians had already cleared out. No one but the Titans, Johnny and Kitty, and the other Johnny and Kitty, who I had yet to see, were present, and none of them had noticed me yet. So, I decided to make myself known.

"Hey, 13!" Johnny skidded to a stop and locked his gaze on to me, immediately recognizing my voice. Kitty peeked out from behind him.

"What's shaking, little man? How long has it been? Actually, the real question is: why aren't you usin' your –" Johnny was about to reveal my secret then and there, so I interrupted quickly.

"– thermos?" I asked, holding up the device. "I can if you _really_ want me to." I aimed and was about to fire when a pair of arms wrapped around me, restrained me, and made me drop the thermos.

"Now, what do we have here? Looks like some fresh meat!" The arm around me was an unhealthy grey color, with black tattoos winding around it in a tangled web of ink. I struggled, but the buff criminal wasn't fazed.

"Johnny Rancid, I presume?" I grunted at my attacker.

"Got that right, punk." He chuckled darkly.

"Hooray! Good job, Johnny-poo! You're, like,_ the best new boyfriend EVER!_" A female voice squealed, obviously belonging to the teenage girl I spotted across the street. So _this _was the other Kitten. She turned back to her massive, mutated moth minions. "Did I _say_ you could stop attacking, moth freaks? NO!" She screeched angrily then turned back to us with a predatory gleam in her eye. "He's actually kinda cute!" Apparently Rancid was glaring at her with that comment (I didn't know. I couldn't see his face.) "But so not my type." She rolled her eyes, appeasing Rancid with the statement, and continued to send moths at the Titans.

I tried to break free, but the maniac biker's grip was too strong. I was starting to suffocate and I seriously considered phasing out of his grip, but that would definitely give away my identity to the Titans. Instead, I duplicated myself discreetly. And, keeping my duplicate invisible, I attacked Rancid from behind. He gave a shout and released me immediately. I panted from the loss of air, but I stood back up, reabsorbed my duplicate, and pulled out the Specter Saber, the double-bladed light saber my mom had used to destroy mutated ghost animals Vlad had created (**A/N: From Maternal Instincts)**. I twirled it around and jumped into a fighting stance, ready to take on Rancid. The wild-haired biker seemed a little shaken – of course he was, he was attacked by an unknown source – but still angry and raring for a fight.

"And what's a normal puny wimp like you gonna do to me?" Rancid taunted.

"More than you'd expect." I smirked and charged with my saber. The weapon couldn't cut him; it was more like a staff with two sides charged with ectoplasm.

He picked up a piece of broken pipe from the pile of debris on the sidewalk and blocked my attacks. I swiftly knocked his feet out from under him. While he was down I used my wrist ray to shoot down some moths. All of a sudden I felt something against my back. It was Robin, who was faced the opposite way engaging Johnny 13 in hand-to-hand combat. Rancid was back on his feet in a few more seconds and knocked my saber out of my hands.

"Why are you here, Danny? I told you to stay at the tower!" Robin yelled the question while giving 13 a punch to his gut. I blocked Rancid's large fists and delivered a kick to his jaw.

"I couldn't just sit there. I can help you!" I grunted in response.

"Even if you _can_ help, I'm not risking it. You're not a professional, and you don't have powers." Robin argued. I heard a snort from Johnny 13 on the other side, but, thankfully, he didn't say anything about how wrong Robin's statement is

"Well, it's too late now. Don't you even notice how well I'm holding my own against this doofus?" Rancid growled and started throwing harder and faster attacks, which I was still capable of defending myself against.

13's shadow descended from the sky just then, and sliced through a light pole, causing it to burst into flames and fall. We all jumped out of the way in the nick of time. While everyone was distracted, I lunged at the thermos and quickly aimed it at the ghostly Kitty I was more familiar with, who was currently clashing with Starfire. She was sucked inside in an instant. 13 let out an anguished roar from the side of me and attacked, kicking me in the ribs before I knew what was coming. I heard a sickening crack and moaned in pain.

I was knocked over onto the pavement, losing the thermos again. 13 laid his boot on my chest and leaned down, speaking quietly and menacingly to me.

"Listen, nosebleed. I'm sick of you. Plasmius is gonna pay us big bucks to cream you and make you reveal yourself to the Titans, and then you go messin' it up – without even using your powers, like you're 'sposed to. I've had it with you, and I'm gonna put a stop to you once and for all, dig?" He brought his boot up high, and I, ignoring the terrible pain in my side, rolled out of the way.

When his boot finally hit the ground, I swept his legs out from under him. I scrambled to grab the thermos and, when I finally reached it, I uncapped it and sucked Johnny inside, and then did the same to his shadow for good measure. Three down, two to go. It seemed like the rest of the Titans were successful in fighting off the moths and wrangling the robot dog. All that was left was Rancid, who was now fighting Robin.

"Birdy Boy's not puttin' up as much of a fight as the runt over there." Rancid taunted him.

"Shut _up_, Rancid." Robin was now fighting at full power, motivated by his anger.

"_That's_ more like it, Bird Brain." Robin swiftly delivered a roundhouse kick to Rancid's head, effectively knocking him out cold.

"Nice work, Rob." Cyborg patted him on the back.

"Wish I could have knocked him out that fast. That punk was irritating." I piped up. The five heroes glared at me.

"_What?_ I _helped_ didn't I? And, by the way, I'm _practically_ a professional ghost hunter." I scoffed at the Titan's reproving stares.

"_Practically_. You still disobeyed direct orders." Raven pointed out. I shifted a little, and the pain in my side flared up again. I winced a little bit.

"You've been hurt!" Starfire raced to his side in concern.

"Wouldn't have happened if you just followed orders…" BeastBoy murmured in a sing-song voice. Cyborg elbowed him and Raven slapped her hand over his mouth. I knew he didn't mean anything by it.

"It's fine." I masked another wince. "I heal fast. Don't worry. Let's just get back to the tower."

"Wait. Let me scan you. I might be able to see what the problem is." Cyborg volunteered. He walked closer to me and a small tool popped out of his shoulder. A bright blue beam of light scanned down, then up the length of my body.

"Three broken ribs, dude. I don't know how you're even standing right now." Cyborg stated after analyzing the data. "You better get in the T-Car. I'll drive you back and we'll patch you up at the tower." _Great. It was severe_. I was worried, because I knew that, with my healing abilities, my injuries might have been noticeably healed by the time we got back to the tower. I gulped, then began to trudge to the vehicle, flinching with each step and pretending that I wasn't used to walking through pain like this. I had to keep up the act as long as possible.

The Titans helped me into the backseat of the T-car. Cyborg was driving and BB rode shotgun while Robin left on his motorcycle in a flash and Raven and Star took to the skies, making me slightly jealous that I couldn't feel the sensation of flight without being hunted down.

Hopefully I could think up another story. Maybe I could use my usual story, which wasn't exactly untrue – that I had too much exposure to ectoplasm, which gave me unusual characteristics and abilities. That would work.

But after I resolved my plan, I couldn't help feeling even more guilty. _I'm impressed, Daniel, simply impressed. You're already becoming a master at lying. You're actually fooling the Titans. I wasn't sure you could do it at first, but you are. You're becoming more like me every day._ I clenched my fists and ground my teeth together as I remembered Vlad's voice earlier in the day. I couldn't keep lying like this. However, if I told the truth now, the Titans would realize I'd been deceiving them the whole time and, in turn, would trust me even less.

I realized what Vlad had done. He had backed me into a corner – _correction:_ he had made _me_ back _myself _into a corner.

How many parts did his plan have? First, he and Slade want me and the Titans to completely annihilate each other. Then, he wants to tear me down emotionally as well?

As I was thinking, darkness had finally fallen over the city, marking the end of the longest day I had ever experienced. The streetlights flickered on and filled the backseat of the T-car with an orange tinted glow.

"How ya doing back there, man?" Cyborg asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I'm," we hit a bump suddenly, and since my healing abilities hadn't kicked in just yet, pain exploded from my still-tender wound and I let out a cry, "alright."

"Dude, you're tough as nails." BeastBoy commented in awe.

"I've got a high pain threshold. I get into a lot of fights at home, and I'm usually on the receiving end. It's not really a big deal." I chuckled slightly, trying to make light of the situation.

"Oh." The green changeling sounded genuinely sympathetic.

"Why? I mean, if you don't mind me asking." Cy also sounded concerned.

"The captain of the football team likes to wail on me even more than he likes to play football. And, I do some ghost hunting on the side, remember? They're not exactly the gentlest creatures to deal with." There was plenty of truth in my statement, and it relieved me of a little guilt. I felt a sudden cooling sensation coming from my ribcage, where Johnny's boot had struck. My healing powers had activated. It was only a matter of time before my secret was blown.

"Why don't you defend yourself like you did against Rancid and Johnny 13?" BeastBoy was curious.

"Well, my school plays favorites. I'm the geek at the bottom of the food chain, and Dash is the superstar football captain (despite the fact that he has zero talent whatsoever). If I even laid a finger on him, I'd get detention for a month for jeopardizing the team's chances in the state tournament. But he's free to use me as his punching bag because first, I don't do anything anyone cares about, and second, detention would mean missing football practice, and is therefore an unacceptable punishment." I breathed a sigh and turned my head to the side slightly, looking at the lights passing by outside.

"Whoa. You have it pretty tough, don't you?" Cy was amazed at what I had to put up with. _Tougher than I let on…_

"I've learned to deal with it. It's okay." I tried to shrug, but in my position, it was more difficult. The two heroes gave each other a look.

"Alright, so right now you might feel a bump." Cyborg warned me. All of a sudden, it felt like there was no more pavement under the car's wheels. I heard the shifting of metal, as if the car was transforming, and a second later, we slammed down on another surface. It knocked the wind out of me.

"Sorry about that. We're just trying to get across the bay to the Tower." Cy informed me.

"It's… all good." I said in between wheezes. I closed my eyes for a few minutes and regained my breath. When I finally recovered, I noted that we were inside the tower and the Titans were trying to extricate me from the backseat.

"Can you possibly sit up slightly?" Robin had arrived moments ago and was now trying to help me out of the car.

"Yeah, sure." I did what I was told and sat up slowly. My ribs had been healing for a while, and the pain was practically gone, but I had to keep up the act.

Robin and Cy grabbed my hands and carefully pulled me out of the T-car. The leader of the Titans offered his shoulder to support me, but I refused, insisting I could walk it from there. Everyone looked at me in awe.

"Don't worry about me!" I protested. "I've suffered through much worse." The Titans looked unsure. They didn't think an ordinary human (except for Robin) could sustain a potentially life-threatening injury and be able to walk nearly fifteen minutes later.

"Scan him again, Cy." Robin ordered, wanting to double-check if I was in any condition to walk myself to the infirmary. Uh oh.

The blue light swept over me again, and Cy's eye widened. "It healed completely… _as _I was scanning."

"WHAT?" Was the simultaneous cry the rest of the Titans exclaimed.

"Project a scan replay, Cyborg." Robin commanded, still stunned. The robotic Titan obliged, projecting a holographic image of the x-ray scan he had just given. It showed the broken halves of my three ribs sealing back together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle.

I didn't know what to say as they all looked at me warily.

"I – uh – err – It's a miracle?" _I had such a way with words._

* * *

**So this story finally passed the 100-review AND the 100-follow AND the 50-favorite milestones! *confetti* Virtual brownies and cake for everyone! You guys rock!**

**Robin and Danny had a moment. (That was definitely my favorite part of the whole story). And I don't quite remember for sure if Robin ever opened up about the apprenticeship with Slade during the series, so let's pretend that he doesn't for now.**

**And I thought I'd outline even _more_ similarities between the shows by temporarily pairing Kitten with Johnny Rancid. You all know how much she enjoys making Fang jealous when they're fighting, right?**

**And yes, so now the Titans know Danny's not human. The jig is up!**

**Shoutout time!**

**Big thanks to all of the reviewers last chapter:**

**Major ****Simi**

**n****ycorrall**

**Skye Bloodwillow**

**PixieDemon1029**

**ChopSuzi**

**CSIalchemist: He couldn't keep it up for much longer...**

**jeannette9a: Indeed I do! XD  
**

**YoshiStack**

**InvaderL**

**Tay1019411**

**Turkeyhead987**

**book phan44**

**gracyn: I'll try my best to get some more Starfire in there!**

**princessbinas  
**

**SupernaturalfreakisSG-1fan20**

**mailaine**

**Till next time peeps!**

**~TheNumberFour**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, you guys probably want to get to the chapter so go right on ahead.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans.**

* * *

"What are you?" Robin growled accusingly, stalking up to me.

"I told you already at the convention, when I registered on my dad's scanner: I never wore enough protective equipment in the lab. I've been infected with trace amounts of ectoplasm." I defended myself. But no excuse could cover what just happened. My healing powers had improved, and subconsciously, I was pleased that they had become so efficient over the years. However, this wasn't the time or place I wanted to figure out that my powers had become so strong.

"Trace amounts of ectoplasm can't possibly give you healing abilities that powerful." Raven growled. "You're a mutant, a metahuman. And I have a hunch about your true identity… _Phantom._" And there it was. Time for some damage control… if only I _could_ control this damage…

"I promise, I'm not who you think I am." I stepped backwards and put my hands up innocently. The Titans were closing in on me, starting to put all of the pieces together.

"I can't believe we trusted you!" BB exclaimed, his green face contorted into an angry grimace.

"I thought we were friends." Star began to tear up just a little bit. "But you have lied to us all. And now you have become like Terra." Who? Who's Terra? I assumed from context that she was someone who betrayed the Titans' trust in the past.

"Star, don't compare him to Terra. Terra was a Titan." BeastBoy turned on his teammate and snarled, startling Starfire. Terra seemed to be a tender subject for him.

"But she –" Star began to reply, somewhat shocked at the way BeastBoy snapped at her, but Raven silenced her.

"Now isn't the time, Starfire. Terra redeemed herself." Raven reminded Starfire.

"I shared one of my deepest secrets with you! You had me actually believing that we were friends!" Robin shouted. The rest of the team looked astonished at this revelation.

"We _are _friends!" I shouted, "Just listen to me!" They didn't, and just continued to advance on me.

"We have. And frankly, everything that came out of your mouth was a lie." Cy retorted.

"That's _so_ not true! You're superheroes. Surely you understand the importance of secret identities." I stared ahead at the metal Titan, green-skinned changeling, and orange-toned, fire-engine-red-haired alien girl and realized that they probably didn't have much use for a secret identity. _Or not, _I mentally added to my statement before.

"I know I wasn't being completely honest with you. I promise I don't want to hurt anyone!" They paid no attention to my words so I went in a different direction. "Vlad isn't what he seems." I tried to warn them, but they wouldn't listen. Robin swiftly pulled out some explosive disks from his utility belt. Starbolts flickered in Starfire's palms. Cy's arm suddenly transformed into his sonic cannon and was aimed directly between my eyes. BeastBoy took a fighting stance and was probably preparing to transform into a lion or other dangerous carnivorous animal while Raven levitated a few feet off the ground, poised to utter her incantation.

Robin, being the leader of the team, made the first move, tossing the disks. I went intangible as quickly as I could and managed to evade the barrage of explosives.

Chaos broke loose after Robin's attack.

Cy's cannon fired, and I dodged the blast narrowly. I had to erect a shield to protect myself from the onslaught of Starbolts unleashed by Starfire.

I took a deep breath and transformed. There was no turning back now. They all gasped as _most_ of their accusations were truly proven. (The ones about my allegiances were completely false, of course).

"I'm not fighting you, Titans. I don't want to hurt you. I'm not losing control and becoming the monster you're convinced I already am." I took flight and hovered close to the ceiling. It was true. I felt so close to losing control. Not enough to become the dark, pure evil, alternate future version of myself (I wasn't afraid of him anymore; not after I had given him to Clockwork. And besides, Vlad's ghost half was a key component in that transformation) but my emotions were running wild. I couldn't lose my temper; I may have pretty good control of my powers by now, but that wasn't enough. I still wasn't even close to having as much control over my own abilities as Vlad did over his.

I didn't want to make a wrong move and hurt my newest friends, even though they were hurling their strongest attacks at me and didn't consider _me _as _their_ friend at the moment.

"Take care of Sam, Tucker, and Jazz for me." My shoulders sagged, realizing I had let my friends down. The Titans knew my secret, and I had failed my best friends by leaving them vulnerable. But a new resolve gripped me. I would redeem myself. I phased through the wall and flew at top speed away from the tower. I glanced back and saw my friends' faces looking out through the living room window.

They understood what had happened and the fact that I had to go into hiding for a while. I nodded to them and continued flying, hoping that the Titans weren't following me.

For once they were not, which I found really odd. Why weren't they giving chase? My question was answered moments later as my sensitive hearing picked up a faint noise coming from the direction of the city. I heard the faint sound of jet engines in the distance. Oh, man. I just couldn't catch a break!

I understood now. They didn't want to put themselves in the line of fire. (No doubt most of those dim ghost hunters would mistake the superheroes for ghosts.)

"Phantom!" Valerie, the Red Huntress, appeared out of nowhere, nearly running right through me, almost impaling me with her sled's sharp prongs. The Guys in White followed shortly after, their multitude of forces using jets and helicopters as well as submarines and battleships in the waters below me; all of their weapons were ready and locked on me. Then there were at least a dozen more ghost fighting teams, also using various flying machines. The Extreme Ghost Breakers were hang-gliding, and my parents had opted to use the Specter Speeder.

How had they been so prepared? How did they know I'd be here? Vlad… or that masked man, Slade must have called them anonymously.

Everything was still for a moment, and I decided to use this to my advantage. I shot up into the space above me, which was occupied only by clouds. I used the vapor as a cover, moving over the city at the fastest speed I could manage. I heard the jets behind me and was able to dodge the few wild shots they fired, but I knew I was losing them. My ghost powers enhanced my vision, but the humans behind me were having trouble seeing. I dove suddenly, knowing for a fact that none of their flying machines cornered well.

Valerie, the lightest and most agile of all of the hunters, was the closest. As soon as she realized I was out of the clouds and heading toward the city, she changed her direction and was gaining fast. Once she was in range, she let out a battle cry and fired rapidly. I countered by creating a force field and deflected all of her shots.

While I prepared for a counterattack, charging a strong ectoplasmic energy blast, she fired again, catching me off guard. The missiles hit me in the shoulder and the stomach and exploded, knocking me out of the sky. I landed on the top of a building. I clutched the wounds, hissing in agony.

"Direct hit! How do you like them apples, spook?" Valerie gloated. _How do you like them apples?_ Where in the world was she getting her taunts from?

While I was down, the army of ghost hunters finally caught up and surrounded me once again.

The Specter Speeder released a blast, headed directly at me. _Mom must have fired that one_, I mentally commented to myself before I froze it with my ice powers, creating a large, ectoplasmically charged icicle. While the ice block was still hurtling through the air, I rushed toward the icicle and roundhouse-kicked it at a GIW jet, which exploded. Thankfully, I saw two white parachutes dropping from the crash. I hated the GIW, but I wasn't about to _kill_ any of them. The only problem was that the remains of the jet were now careening toward the street below.

As I sprang off of the roof to catch the metal pieces, I realized how stupid it was of me to fly towards the city with a horde of ghost fighters on my tail. Innocent people could be hurt. Lasers, missiles and darts rained down upon me from just about every aircraft above when I went for the wrecked jet. I swerved and dodged, occasionally being grazed by a few shots.

I could hear the screams from the civilians below. They drove me to fly even faster to the jet. I finally reached it a split second before it crashed into a building, squeezing underneath it and using all of my strength to hold it up. No doubt that impact would have collapsed the structure and killed all of the people who lived inside. The weight on my shoulders was difficult to bear, but I had experienced worse.

I took off again, heading toward the waters of the bay, still being followed and fired upon by the hunters. I hurled the wrecked plane into the water, away from the GIW ships still positioned in the bay, disposing of it at last.

Hovering over the water, I realized the Titans were watching from the top of their tower, prepared to intervene just in case they were needed. Vlad was probably tracking my progress from somewhere inside the tower as well. _Great._

It was a mistake to focus on Titans Tower. My parents and Valerie simultaneously fired shots while I was distracted, and both hit me directly in my back, between the shoulder blades.

"ARGH!" I yelled out. That would definitely hurt later on. I needed to end this fast. And that was when I began to wail.

Valerie was knocked off of her board, but I knew that the sled would return and catch her just in time. The aircraft were knocked back, but none fell out of the sky. My sonic scream caused large waves to crash in the water, which nearly made the ships capsize.

While everyone was off-guard, I ended my attack quickly, managing to retain my ghostly form, and shot off towards the city again. I needed to find a hiding place, because I was going to transform in a matter of minutes. My body was nearly drained of all its energy. I made it to the shore when the tips of my hair began to blacken again. My speed increased and I reached the hotel in mere seconds. I phased through the wall and into our suite, finally releasing my ghost half and collapsing on the bed, out cold.

NPOV

Robin and the team had been watching Phantom's struggle from the roof of the tower. As much as they wanted to follow Danny, they couldn't. Just as they reached the living room, the alarms blared, alerting the Titans that there was an army of ghost hunters headed for the bay, in Phantom's direction.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were overwhelmed by the chaos. They didn't know what the Titans would do now that they knew the truth. They tried to slip out but Raven used her powers to seal the door.

"You three stay put." Robin ordered, and then turned to Starfire. "Star, do you mind staying here with them in case they try to make a break for it? We need to keep an eye on the battle. We'll call you if we need you."

"Yes," Star nodded, "of course." The rest of the team left to observe the fight from the roof.

Robin knew what he was doing when he designated Starfire as the guard. Sure, she could get easily distracted. But he knew that she would not be persuaded to stray from a task after she had been hurt or lied to.

"Star, you _really _don't need to watch us. We promise to stay." The Tamaranian straightened her posture and stuck her nose into the air at Jazz's statement. Sam and Tucker glanced at her skeptically. They hadn't been planning on staying to be interrogated in the event that the Titans discovered Danny's true identity. Starfire was being surprisingly more difficult than they predicted she'd be.

"Come on, Star! What did we do to you?" Tucker put a hand on the alien girl's shoulder, which she promptly jerked away.

"You all know perfectly well the acts of wrong you have committed against my friends and myself." She huffed coldly, maintaining her rigid posture and keeping her head up.

"How was what we did so wrong, Star?!" Sam burst out, unable to contain her temper any longer. "We were keeping a secret for a friend. It wasn't our secret to tell!" She threw her arms up into the air in exasperation.

Starfire turned on the Goth girl. The amethyst gaze clashed violently with the vibrant green glare. "You all knew that we were attempting to locate the Phantom. We were trying to aid him in finding the right path, so he would cease committing the evildoings!" She argued, actually lifting herself off the ground.

"First off, as I said before, it wasn't _OUR_ secret to tell! We were respecting our friend's wishes. Next, I would advise you to do some better research. Don't let one man's opinion influence all of yours. And last, I would like to ask: What is _wrong_ with you, Titans?! You _think_ someone's done something wrong and you instantly chase after him, full speed, with metaphorical guns blazing?" Starfire's gaze softened slightly. She understood what Sam was saying. If she knew Robin's true identity, she'd go any lengths to keep his secret.

The alien girl's gaze shifted to the floor.

"I… did not think of it in such a way." Starfire said softly.

"And if he were evil, do you think he would have friends like us? I doubt this evil mastermind guy your team is so preoccupied with would allow any other people in his life like this." Tucker pointed out.

"_That_ is where you are wrong." Star continued quietly. "Robin… he once was forced to be Slade's apprentice. He was allowed to see us … that is, until the situation became much more serious… But you would be surprised what a friend may be able to hide from you. And another of our friends, Terra, was an apprentice of Slade at one time. Because of this, she met her end, after she realized too late that what she was doing was wrong." Star finished the sad tale.

"But Star, we know Danny, and we know that he would never – " Sam started, but Starfire cut her off.

"You do not know that, Sam. Friends may keep secrets from friends." Starfire argued, not in a rude or aggressive tone, but in the same somber voice.

"I understand what you've been through. Really, I do. We've been exposed to a timeline where Danny makes all the wrong decisions. But because of that, Danny knows that he will never take the easy way out. He knows that he will never choose the path of evil under any circumstances." Jazz explained. "And besides," She added, "if he were out to destroy Vlad and your team, don't you think he would have done it by now?"

Starfire was silent for a few moments. Jazz, Tucker, and Sam exchanged glances during the pause, the flashes from the explosions outside lighting the dim space for brief seconds. Did Starfire believe them?

"I… think I trust you once more." She began to smile brightly again and gathered the three humans in a tight hug and let them go once realized she was suffocating the fragile humans. "But please do not withhold the truth ever again."

"We won't Star, and I'm sure Danny will be completely honest with you all, now that the cat's out of the bag." Jazz assured the alien girl, who tilted her head, showing slight confusion at the earth idiom. "Now that his secret is exposed." Jazz clarified with a friendly smile.

"But _my_ judgment may not be enough to sway my teammates." Starfire bit her lip in worry. "Robin is quite passionate about issues where Slade may perhaps involved."

"Danny is the same way about Plasmius, trust me." Sam responded. "We get through to him eventually."

"I wish Robin were that easily calmed." And not even a moment after Starfire had said those bitter words, the rest of the Titans barreled back into the room.

"He escaped, Starfire! He unleashed that big blast and flew off!" The leader of the Titans growled angrily.

"Oh, thank goodness." Jazz couldn't help releasing a sigh. Robin glared at her through his mask.

"_What?_ He's my brother. I'm not allowed to show any concern?" She put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow at the Boy Wonder. He ignored her and turned back to his team.

"Here's the plan, we're going to –" Robin started.

"Robin, I – " Starfire tried to interject.

" Not now, Star. We need to find Phantom." He waved her away.

"But, Robin, he –" Starfire made another attempt to get his attention, but to no avail.

"Starfire, I'm sure it can wait!" Robin exclaimed exasperatedly. This pushed Starfire's temper to its limit. Her eyes began to glow a vibrant green, much like Danny's did when he was angry.

"ROBIN! YOU MUST LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW!" She shouted, catching everyone's attention.

Robin turned to the Tamaranian girl, eyes wide behind his mask. He was listening.

* * *

***Chuckles nervously* Heeeey guys. I hope you're not mad. Please don't be mad. I've had the busiest year. Isn't senior year is supposed to be easier than the rest of high school? The senioritis is beating the crap out of me. GAH! And I applied to three colleges already. EEP! Life's getting real!**

**So yup, this chapter was pretty intense! And more Starfire, as promised. I was kind of imagining her treating Sam, Tucker, and Jazz like she treated BeastBoy in the episode "Forces of Nature" after he accidentally pulls that prank on her. And the big fight scene with Danny against all the ghost hunters is probably one of my personal favorite parts. Imagining him up against such a massive force of ghost hunters just seemed so epic! And it kind of showcases his true power and potential to the Titans who are observing from the Tower.**

**Oh and lately I've been on Tumblr a lot! If you want to follow me my url is: the-number-4. I FOLLOW BACK!**

**Gosh! So many reviewers! I'm really glad you like both me AND my story so much. You guys ROCK!**

** I'll do some SHOUTOUTS! :D**

**Big thanks to:**

**turkeyhead987  
**

**darkhorse111**

**jeannette9a**

**Reid Phantom**

**ChopSuzi**

**Skye Bloodwillow**

**THE ULTIMATE POTTERHEAD**

**Major Simi**

**Guest 1**

**book phan44  
**

**mailaine**

**nycorrall**

**blackjay48**

**InvaderL**

**Yijasha**

**CrazyCoffeeKat**

**Arette**

**Universal808**

**ZAP**

**Guest 2**

**numbuh13m  
**

**zoeshade**

**RAIKIM4everlover**

**princessbinas**

**Malica15**

**Tbird2290**

**Rebecca**

**KCWROX  
**

**Tbird12355**

**Fear the mewfour**

**Xion98**

**Moki Hunter**

**Crystalzap**

**Guest 3**

**Crystalbird1769  
**

**FateOfChaos**

**Yami's Devil**

**Creed of Angels**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sup peeps! Happy New Year! ...Even though it's February now... I suppose I'll get right to it then.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own TT or DP or anything you see here that definitely does not belong to me. *oh sigh***

* * *

NPOV

"The Phantom has not done any wrong!" Starfire exclaimed angrily.

"But in the clearing with Slade, I saw him about to waste Vlad Masters with my own eyes! He _lied_ to us!" Robin argued.

Sam wanted to get involved. She clenched her fists and opened her mouth to object, but Jazz shot her a look, trying to convey the point that Sam's work was already done. She had managed to convince Starfire of Danny's innocence. Starfire was the one that had to persuade the rest of the Titans. Sam shut her mouth, but continued to look on in frustration.

"I do not recall us ever giving to him a fair chance to explain his actions. We have failed to address both sides of this issue. Because of one man's tales, we have chased a completely innocent teen hero. He is afraid. Imagine what he is forced to face at his home." Starfire replied, more calmly now.

For once, Robin didn't have a response. He racked his brain, trying to remember the confessions Danny had made to him before the Titans had figured out his secret. Danny had told him his problems during their conversation, under the guise of typical teenage angst and drama.

_As Robin was enjoying some peace and quiet on the roof of the tower, he heard a loud bang. The rooftop door swung open and another raven-haired teen appeared, clearly frustrated. Robin's cape rustled as he turned to get a better look at the other boy. Danny was slightly startled by the soft noise and turned to look at the Boy Wonder._

"_Something bothering you?" Robin was the first to speak._

"_A couple things actually." Danny muttered, turning to survey his surroundings once more._

"_Care to explain?"Robin tried to interrogate further._

"_Not really. You couldn't possibly understand." Danny responded, settling into a sitting position on the ledge._

"_Try me." Robin challenged. If the kid had a problem, Robin wanted to help. It was just in his heroic nature. Danny sighed and began to explain what was troubling him._

"_Vlad Masters is on the top of a long, long list of people that I hate. Higher on the list than the loser who beats me up in school. He hates my dad and is in love with my mom. Gross, right? He's really open about it too. It's creepy." Robin nodded attentively. "Ever since he met me, we've both noticed… some similarities. He wants me to be just like him; his son; his… apprentice." It was odd that Danny had decided to use that term to describe Vlad Masters' intentions towards him. Robin knew exactly how Danny felt, having gone through it himself with Slade._

"_I know what you're talking about… all too well, I'm afraid." Robin turned away from Danny. All the painful memories were rushing back to him with an excruciating intensity._

_ "There's a villain in this city. He goes by the name of Slade. As much as I hate to admit it, we're also very similar. A while back, he forced me to become his apprentice by threatening my friends. I did some things I really don't want to talk about." Robin admitted quietly._

_ "Wow… sounds a lot like what I have to deal with…" Robin shot him a suspicious glance. 'A lot like what he had to deal with?' Danny had no idea about the intricacies of this kind of superhero-supervillain relationship. "On a much larger scale of course." The other teen added hastily to ease Robin's suspicions._

All of a sudden, everything clicked in Robin's mind. Danny knew more about this than he let on. He _did_ know what it was like to be a pawn to a supervillain… because Vlad Masters must have wanted him as an apprentice. The only explanation for Slade's involvement is that he wanted in on this deal. A teen who could become intangible and invisible would be invaluable to Slade's villainous efforts. As soon as he saw Vlad Masters, he was going to… Robin didn't know what he'd do to the treacherous _**former**_houseguest when he saw him again. Vlad was the real liar here, and didn't deserve any more of the Titans' kindness and hospitality.

_But who is Plasmius?_ Robin thought suddenly. _Why is he involved?_ Robin knew he was linked to Vlad Plasmius. Was it only a coincidence that they had the same first name? Robin was getting close to a solution. He could feel it.

He couldn't think too much about it now. Now, he needed to rally the Titans and find Danny.

"Starfire, you're right." Everyone in the room seemed surprised that Robin was swayed so easily. "Danny is a hero, and he's just trying to escape being mixed up in the chaos I was forced into so long ago. We need to go find him and apologize."

"Seriously, Rob? Are you sure?" Cyborg asked uneasily, obviously not convinced of Danny's innocence just yet. BeastBoy's confused and concerned expression showed that the green changeling seemed to take the same stance as his robotic best friend.

"I'm positive." Robin looked at them sincerely, and they relaxed only the slightest bit.

"Okay. We'll believe you." Cy said, still with a hint of wariness in his voice, like he still wasn't totally swayed by Robin's sudden change of heart. Robin looked over to BeastBoy to gauge his reaction. The green changeling shifted apprehensively beside his cybernetic friend. His silence was definitely a sign that he wasn't completely on board with Robin's decision either.

Finally BeastBoy spoke, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's go find that ghost kid."

"Titans, search the city. He could be anywhere." Robin ordered and began to get ready to leave. Jazz stopped him.

"Thank you, Robin, for understanding. I just have a word of advice. Danny gets a little skittish when he knows someone's after him. I would pursue him gently. And don't use force by any means." The ghost boy's older sister advised. Robin nodded.

"I promise I won't. I'll pass it along to the Titans."

"Thank you. We'll try our best to get a hold of him as well. We'll call if we're able to contact him." Jazz's cheerful expression was tainted by her worry. She was scared for her brother. He was alone in a big city with thousands of ghost hunters and two supervillains trying to find him. Her concern was understandable.

The Titans bid Danny's friends goodbye and left to find the ghost boy.

DPOV

I woke with a start, my head pounding. What happened last night? Oh, right. The Titans discovered me, chased me out, and I was attacked by a ton of ghost hunters. What a lovely way to spend my evening. And now I'm on the run. I had to pack my stuff, and quick, before the Titans checked this hotel. They had to be searching for me by now.

I grabbed my duffel bag and started carelessly tossing all of my belongings into it. Once I knew that I had everything, I yanked the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and dashed out of the room. I wasn't going invisible. I figured someone somewhere in the city would sense my ectoplasmic energy and come after me. And besides, after using every single ounce of energy I had during the battle yesterday, I was still pretty drained. I needed to regain my strength.

Where could I go? I couldn't go back to my parents. They'd ask too many questions. I couldn't explain why I was alone while Jazz, Sam, and Tucker were still out in the city. Plus there was an off-chance that there was a single competent individual in that horde of ghost fighters who could recognize me. I didn't feel like pushing my luck any more than I already had.

I rushed down the hallway to the back stairs. The elevator was way too public. I had to keep to the shadows if I wanted to stay hidden.

I descended the stairs, as fast as I could and arrived in the lobby in a matter of minutes. As I strode to the closest exit, I received only a few suspicious stares. That didn't surprise me. Who wouldn't be worried about a hooded youth who looked like he was hurrying away from something?

I stepped out onto the sidewalk and took a look around, then decided to turn right. After I had walked a few blocks, I heard a noise coming from my pocket. My phone!

The caller ID told me that Jazz was the caller. My first impulse was to answer, but then my paranoia got the better of me. What if the Titans were using her phone and tracing the call? I had no idea what could have been going on. The phone rang a few more times before I made my decision.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Oh, thank goodness! Danny!" My sister's relieved voice sighed through the receiver.

"Hey Jazz. I'm okay. Trying to keep a low profile. This call isn't being traced, is it?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, Danny, but I need to tell you something."

"Alright. Go ahead." Just then, I saw a flash of blue and white at the end of the street. _The T-Car!_ I had to hide someplace. Luckily I found an alleyway to my right and ducked into it before the T-Car passed me.

"The Titans –" She started.

"Are hunting me? Yeah, I already knew that, Jazz." I interrupted.

"No! That's not what I was going to say. Just listen to me, Danny. They're not –" Jazz was interrupted by my hand being hit by a projectile with an unknown source. My phone fell to the ground and shattered from the impact. What in the world…?

Wait, let me think… what Titan was _that_ good with projectiles? *Hint hint* It was most likely a certain Boy Wonder.

"Well _that_ was pretty rude, Robin. I still had plenty of minutes left!" I turned toward the one who had thrown phone-destroying projectile, who was still enveloped in the shadowy darkness of the alley.

"I'm not Robin." The person in the shadows said simply. The somewhat gravelly male voice definitely didn't belong to Robin.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Slade." Slade took a step forward, out of the shadows.

"You! The guy from the clearing! You're working with Vlad!" I exclaimed, countering his step forward by taking two steps back.

"I am."

"Okay, now that we've established the _obvious_ information that we both already know, I'll give you five seconds to explain why you're here before I blast you." I charged an energy beam in my palm and aimed it at the masked man. I couldn't trust this guy. He was just as dangerous as Vlad, maybe even more so, judging from what I had been told.

"I only wish to make a proposition with you." He explained calmly. I detected no traces of nervousness or fear of my previous threat in his voice.

"And what would that be?" I retorted warily.

"I understand the Titans are searching for you. I have the means to keep you hidden and protected. I can help you defeat them." He explained. Just as I was about to spit a biting retort about how I didn't need any help from the likes of him, he held up a hand and continued. "Before you answer, you should know that I am not asking you for a solid commitment. I am only offering an alliance."

"But what about your little _partnership_ with Vlad?" I sneered questioningly, raising my eyebrow. Surely Vlad wouldn't appreciate his partner aiding his target.

"Vlad doesn't need to know a thing." He responded. "I've spent a lot of my time with Plasmius these days. I have had enough time to assess his flaws. He certainly is a master at planning and organization. However, he throws himself into his plans, concentrates too hard on making things happen accordingly. He would be unable to detect anything going on without his knowledge."

"So," He extended out his gloved hand, "do you accept?"

* * *

**EEEEP! Sorry. That was a totally mean cliffie, I know. I'm so sorry. But DRAMA! AAAHHH!**

**Shoutout time! To the peeps who reviewed last chapter:**

**CSIalchemist**

**nickorin fusionspark**

**Skye Bloodwillow**

**Vampirenote13**

**nycorrall**

**Universal808**

**Arette**

**fanficfantasies**

**mailaine**

**princessbinas**

**jeannette9a**

**Guest**

**book phan44  
**

**Moki Hunter**

**j158n: Eeek! Don't be mad! (And don't get even more mad because I said to not get mad again! I'm starting to confuse myself...)  
**

**InvaderL**

**MisteryMaiden**

**Cloud9timeforEmu  
**

**Crystalzap**

**Sleepyreader13**

**jabber185**

**Lia Alcona**

**Andipandi5**

**Adventuregirl1**

**Pinkie of the 4th wall**

**ChopSuzi**

**Yami's Devil**

**Major Simi**

**Turkeyhead987**

**El Zorro**

**Chrizzie1  
**

**soulevans31**

**DannyPhantomFan: I really don't know how you predicted that because I had that part all written out by the time you reviewed. But I'm seriously impressed.**

**...THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! Praise, is so much appreciated. I never expected my story to be this popular and well-liked! Thank you all so much!**

**Keep on reviewing, guys! Love you all :) *heart***

**Till next time!**

**~TheNumberFour**

***********EDIT* Okay, so I got a review from blackjay48 regarding the moment when the rest of the Titans decide to believe that Phantom isn't evil. You were absolutely right. It did go way too fast! Thanks for catching that! So I edited it. Hope it sounds better now!**


End file.
